Al Jazeera article about groups in Somalia

[Macalin M]

So I never really looked into how many militants were in Al Shabaab and just recently when reading this article I saw that the number was approximately 7000.

WHAAAAT?
These 7000 man are supposed to have Amisom soldiers under lock? I can’t believe that either the number is fake or Amisom are not trying as hard as they can to stop them.


Another thing I learnt is this Sufi group who are are opposed to Al Shabaab

“The Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jammah (ASWJ) are Sufis who took up arms against al-Shabab to prevent the spreading of inflexible Islamic law.

ASWJ does not support the implementation of stoning or severing limbs, as well as capital punishment.

In 2008, the ASWJ began its resistance when Sufi tombs were razed to the ground by al-Shabab.”
They are also helped by Amisom and Somali govt.


https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/interactive/2018/06/armed-groups-somalia-180604110516975.html

 

[GBTarmy]

ASWJ need to take control of the whole south.

 

[Macalin M]

ASWJ need to take control of the whole south.

Agreed

 

[GBTarmy]

Agreed

Why arent more Somalis supporting ASWJ in your opinion?

 

[Macalin M]

Why arent more Somalis supporting ASWJ in your opinion?

I’m not sure many Somalis know about this,

From my experience of being the only Somali during my younger years I was oblivious to Somali news and what would go on. I only knew about Al Shabaab and pirates
It was only in recent years where I learnt more about our history and our current struggles.

However maybe due to the lack of media coverage I never heard of ASWJ until today and there are many Somalis who don’t even know the issues in their country let alone know things like this.

 

[Evan_PolGeoNow]

That Al Jazeera map is based on a Political Geography Now map from last summer:

http://www.polgeonow.com/2017/08/somalia-war-who-controls-somalia-map.html

The article accompanying the original map has a little more explanation of the different armed groups, and the reports that it cites have even more, if someone's interested in really getting into all the details.