“Ramadan is a month of Jihad and sacrifice. It’s time for observing the most righteous deeds & offering gratitude to Allah for His blessings.”
Mogadishu — In a series of recent Twitter messages, al-Shabaab boasted about how its fighters carried out over 100 attacks during the first half of Ramadan, and vowed to increase the violence in coming weeks.
“Of the 108 military operations carried out by HSM [al-Shabaab], 57 were explosions and grenade attacks, 41 were direct confrontations and ambushes,” the militant group said July 24th.
Al-Shabaab said it also carried out nine targeted assassinations and a suicide attack against an African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) convoy in Mogadishu July 12th, in which al-Shabaab claimed to have wounded American intelligence officials.
Deemed the “Ramadan offensive”, al-Shabaab’s campaign of violence has been “concentrated in the capital, with nearly half of all HSM operations taking place in Mogadishu”.
“Lower Shabelle & Lower Jubba also saw intense action during the first half of Ramadan, with the number of strikes expected to rise sharply,” al-Shabaab said.
In two messages posted July 16th, al-Shabaab explained its reasoning for the rampage.
“Ramadan is a month of Jihad and sacrifice. It’s time for observing the most righteous deeds & offering gratitude to Allah for His blessings,” it said. “And what better way to observe Ramadan and offer gratitude to Allah than striking the necks of the invaders and destroying their might!”
In an attempt to appear united amid ongoing internal divisions, al-Shabaab said July 24th, “If anything, the sharp rise in such coordinated attacks is a clear testament to the strength of the Mujahideen & their operational capacity.”