Sierra Leone to deploy troops in Somalia despite Al-Shabaab threats

The Sierra Leone Government has vowed to go ahead with its Somalia deployment plan despite threats from Al-Shabaab.

The government said its decision to send peacekeeping forces was not just because of its membership of the UN and the African Union, but also in fulfilment of its responsibility to contribute to international peace and security as other countries had done for Sierra Leone during its years of civil turmoil.

The government was responding to recent reports citing an Al-Shabaab military commander warning against the deployment of some 850 troops as part of the UN-funded African Union Mission to Somalia (Amisom).

“We, as the Mujahideen in Somalia, tell the government and the people of Sierra Leone not to dispatch their boys to Somalia, otherwise they will collect more bodies from here as failed Kenyans do,” a local radio linked to the terror group quoted the commander as saying.

“We will fight them as we fought against the crusaders of Kenya, Amisom and the Christian Ethiopians,” he added.

High command

There has been heated public debate in Sierra Leone over the rationale of sending troops to Somalia, and it is these fears which the government statement was aiming to allay.

“The Al-Shabaab threat directed at RSLAF [Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces] is taken seriously,” the statement said, adding that “necessary security measures are being put in place to ensure a successful mission.”

Since the reports of the Al-Shabaab threats emerged, there have been many calls, made mainly through the media, for the government to rethink its decision.

Sources say the military high command has been busy assuring their civilian superiors of their preparedness for the deployment.

There is the added fear of possible Al-Shabaab action inside Sierra Leone itself amid reports of deadly attacks by the militant group inside Kenya.

“The security of the state is the collective responsibility of all Sierra Leoneans and foreigners alike,” the Sierra Leone Government statement said, urging members of the public to report any “suspicious activity” they deemed to be against national security.

From Somalia, the radical Islamist fervently opposed to the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) vowed Friday to kill anyone who voted in favour of the country's draft constitution.

The Al-Shabaab spokesman, Sheikh Ali Mohamoud Raghe, said: “Anybody approving the (draft) constitution will be killed (by Al-Shabaab militants)”.

The hardliner clergyman stressed that some of the articles in the draft were against Islam.

“Anybody approving the document will be considered as having abandoned Islam,” the sheikh said.

He urged all those engaged in the preparation of the constitution approval to refrain from doing so.

Sheikh Raghe was reacting to a statement issued on Monday, which quoted Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali affirming the finalisation of the draft constitution on April 20.

It added that the draft constitution would be presented to the National Constituent Assembly on May 15 for adoption.