When you meet him in the mosque, Sheikh Mohamed looks like he cannot hurt a fly.
He
wears the demeanour of a shy, polite and courteous man of faith who
religiously delivers his sermon at a mosque in Afmadow in southern
Somalia every day.
As Afmadow’s Chief
Kadhi, he is highly regarded in the small town of 15,000 people from
where the extremist Al-Shabaab militants were ejected by the Kenya
Defence Forces (KDF) under the African Union Mission in Somalia last
year.
But immediately after the
sermon, Sheikh Mohamed switches to his Somalia National Army (SNA)
jungle uniform. He packs a rifle and a sword, ready for war.
He
then joins other SNA colleagues and KDF in patrols to ensure Al-Shabaab
do not attack. It’s not a battle for the faint hearted: this week
alone, the militants killed two Somali MPs in Mogadishu and threatened
to assassinate all legislators of the internationally backed government.
“All
of them are targets of the mujahideen fighters and they will be killed,
one by one,” Al-Shabaab spokesman Abdulaziz Abu Musab told AFP on
Tuesday.
In an interview with
Lifestyle in Afmadow, Sheikh Mohamed says the atrocities committed by
Al-Shabaab forced him to take up the gun.
“I’m in it because I hate Al-Shabaab,” he says categorically. “I carry a gun to make our children sleep.”
FIGHTING BACK
He says that Al-Shabaab militants once captured him but he escaped before they could execute him.
He had been dragged out of a camp for the internally displaced in 2007 in the same town he now preaches to and fights for.
“Al-Shabaab
took my wealth. They took me to prison where I was detained for 22
days. They wanted to kill me but I escaped and decided to arm myself. I
decided I would rather die than join them,” Sheikh Mohamed told
Lifestyle.
He says that he sneaked out of his holding shack as his captors slept.
“If somebody takes your wealth and denies you peace, then he is an enemy,” he says.
For his ordeal, he decided he would fight back every way he knew how.
“That
is when I decided I should both give sermons in mosques and arm myself
and fight for my rights. Every Friday, I have to give advice to the
people,” he says.
Unlike what
Al-Shabaab teaches, the 50-year-old Chief Kadhi is adamant that no
religion allows the killing of innocent people. He is also cognisant of
the fact that what affects Somalia also affects the region and that “if I
had been in Kenya, I would still have armed myself and fought
Al-Shabaab”.
The cleric says that if
he had been in Nairobi when terrorists attacked the Westgate shopping
mall last September, he would have removed his religious clothes and
stormed the mall.
WOMEN WARRIORS
“I wouldn’t just have sat as the terrorists caused mayhem and killed innocent Kenyans,” he says.
As a result of the co-operation between KDF and SNA, Al-Shabaab was kicked out of Afmadow and driven about 50 kilometres away.
Sheikh
Mohamed is thankful to KDF for helping flush out the militants who had
caused mayhem by harassing locals, collecting huge taxes and
implementing strict shariah law.
“Our
friends are KDF and not even the other forces. They have salvaged the
country from Al-Shabaab. We are working together. KDF is helping us a
lot,” he says. “We will not forget what KDF has done. They have
sacrificed their lives and left their homes to die for us. We thank the
government of Kenya for deploying them.”
When
not in the mosque or ensuring security, Sheikh Mohamed usually listens
to cases brought before him of people arrested for various offences.
Somali National Army women soldiers Nimo
Ibrahim(left), Farten Abdikadir(centre) and Fariha Abdikadir during an
interview at Kismayu Old Airport on 21st of January, 2014.PHOTO/EVANS
HABIL
Joining
forces with the sheikh are other fighters, including women. Although a
minority, it is difficult to tell apart the uniformed military women in
Somalia from the men.
“I am enjoying
my work in the battle field. We have to fight until the enemy, who is
Al-Shabaab, is defeated,” Ms Fariha Abdullahi Omar says.
Ms Omar, a mother of 10 — nine of whom live in Kenya — joined the war at Tartar about three years ago.
“I
was living with my children when Al-Shabaab attacked us, claiming that I
was selling goods to Kenyan soldiers and that I was a spy. They
attacked my house, forcing me to run away and join the SNA.” she says.
Not
realising that she was now armed, the Shabaab attacked her house once
more but she took cover and sprayed them with bullets, leaving a number
injured. It is then that she reported to KDF and SNA and has since been
fighting from the frontline, leading the liberation of a number of towns
from the militants.
CHOOSING GUNS
“We will fight till we get peace in our country. I want to be a soldier forever,” she told Lifestyle.
Ms
Omar was promoted by the Somalia government to head a unit of women
soldiers after she arrested two suicide bombers at Kismayu Airport.
“I was allocated a vehicle and involved in de-mining activities,” she said.
The
Lifestyle team found her keeping vigil at the Jubaland presidential
palace, searching women visitors to counter any security threats.
Also
with Ms Omar was Ms Nimo Ibrahim Hassan who started training with SNA
at Elwak before moving with them as KDF kicked out Al-Shabaab from
Buruhacha, Godef, Fafadun, Gerille and later Kismayu.
“Some of my colleagues died during the war but I am happy I was able to get here (Kismayu),” Ms Hassan says.
She is a mother of one and is married to a soldier who she met during military training.
Another woman soldier, Ms Fatur Abdikadir, says she joined SNA to end the suffering of women in the hands of the terrorists.
“I
chose the gun because Al-Shabaab was harassing and terrorising us. They
made us slaves and forcefully made women their wives. That is why I
decided to fight them,” she says.
Married to an SNA soldier, Ms Abdikadir says being a soldier has made her unable to live a normal life with her husband.
“I have no time for family life because of insecurity. We rarely have time to plan for our family. It’s so stressful,” she says.
Ms
Abdikadir adds that she is happy with her role as a soldier in the
combat unit and that she will serve until the country is fully
liberated.
“I assure you that when it comes to combat, I am better than some male soldiers,” she says.
NOMALCY RETURNS
Afmadow
District Commissioner Musa Maalim Aden is also in the forefront in the
fight against Al-Shabaab and calls for the liberation of more areas from
the militants.
As a result of peace
in Afmadow, four schools have re-opened and have admitted more than 800
students. Business is also booming. A number of NGOs that had fled the
area have expressed interest to return. An American NGO also wants to
assist in the rehabilitation of Afmadow airstrip which has re-opened
after a five-year closure, but is in bad shape.
The
Kenyan soldiers also provide medical care to residents. A hospital in
the town works with KDF personnel in conducting regular visits to attend
to patients.
Captain Thomas Mureithi
of KDF says: “We work with them in the provision of preventive
healthcare. We are, however, faced with a lot of challenges as the
hospital does not have water, laboratories and drugs. Sometimes we
(KDF/Amisom) have to chip in and provide the supplies.”
By Open Kenya
