Somali militant group has ordered residents of Mogadishu district to turn off outdoor lamp posts during night hour.
The new issue of the insurgents came after the district administration of Huriwa neighbourhood had called for the residents to implement outdoor lamp posts in every house, a move to fight insecurity and criminals who carry out assassinations & attacks who go to hide in the dark.
Residents say the militants control the district during night hours and carry frequent attacks on African Union and Somali troop’s bases.
“The government’s administration in the district is so weak and also the troops are unable to defeat the militants, who are able to carry out anything in the district at night,’’ say one resident who asked to be not named due to security reasons.
Since its withdrawal in August 2011, al-Shabab has been using a strategy which is melting into the communities that are believed to be housing them and has seen them carrying out deadly guerrilla attacks in the capital, mainly targeting government officials and buildings.
Al-Shabab has also been severely weakened in Southern and Central Somalia where it has lost key strongholds to the Somali government and African Union troops in the past two months.
Recently appointed mayor of Mogadishu Mungab, vowed to deal with the threat of the insurgents and called for the government senior officials to hire accommodation in the capital’s remote areas such as Huriwa.
It was months ago when hundreds of residents started fleeing from their houses due to increased clashes between the government troops backed by the AU and the militants.
Analysts claim that the growing strength of Insurgents in Mogadishu is due to the slow response of the Somali government and lack of professional military with counterterrorism units, special operations forces and robust intelligence-gathering and sharing initiatives.
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