Ziqad 26, 1432 A.H, Tuesday, October 25, 2011

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

It is recorded that in the 19th Century, Napoleon Bonaparte wanted to occupy Russia to expand his empire, the strongest in the world at that time. For this purpose he prepared half a million soldiers, the greatest army known to the world at that time, to sweep away Russia.

The first surprise, however, was that Napoleon met with no resistance from the Russians throughout his advance until his feet were plunged in the thick Russian snow. The much greater surprise was when he found that he had fallen into a huge trap, and the soldiers of the Russian leaders Barclay and Bagration launched a great ambush against Napoleon’s soldiers.

All villages situated on the road were burned, as well as all the farms. Napoleon had advanced more than 300 miles when his soldiers and horses began to die from hunger, thirst and exposure. Napoleon’s only hope was to seize Moscow. The singular aspect of the matter was that the Russians understood this well, and so orchestrated what amounted to a sham battle in a city located two weeks’ march from Moscow. 30,000 soldiers were killed from Napoleon’s army which still numbered 160,000 after many men had already been killed and others were left to garrison conquered cities. The Russians suddenly withdrew from the battlefield after three days of vicious fighting.

The unexpected abandonment of the battlefield by the Russians made Napoleon aspire to occupy Moscow. This aspiration increased when he learned that they had also withdrawn from Moscow. He quickly took the bait and occupied Moscow only to be surprised in the morning to learn that he had fallen into a trap. All of Moscow burned over his head and he was in an unenviable position. The armies of the Russians were made ready in Saint Petersburg while Napoleon’s soldiers were lean with hunger from the march and could find nothing to sustain or nourish them. He decided to head to (Tsar) Alexander in Saint Petersburg, and started moving towards there with his soldiers. But the winter and the frost had made matters worse. The Russian generals knew this and when the Russian armies confronted Napoleon, they inflicted on him an ignominious defeat, in the aftermath of which Napoleon lost both Russia and his striking force in the mud. This was one of main reasons for the collapse of his rule.

Likewise the proud Afghan people conquered tyranny when the English wanted to occupy the lands of the Afghans, the strongest Islamic Empire at that time in East Asia. They advised their lackey Shuja’ Malik to appeal to them for aid against Dostum Muhammad. Dostum Muhammad withdrew before the huge English forces and abandoned Kabul to them. His eldest son Khan, however, and the brave Pashtu tribes made Kabul, Kandahar and the south a graveyard for this English army, which was almost totally annihilated on the road back. The English that day learned a lesson they have never forgotten. This is what the Taliban heroes did - and are still doing - when they withdrew from Kabul and headed to the mountains. This was the most useful strategy in confronting those occupiers who came from all around and we see to what point the situation has reached in the land of the Afghans.

What does this Story have to do with Mogadishu??

This story has a firm link to Mogadishu which we must understand and connect. Because the Ummah which does not tie the past to the present falls into the same trap into which their predecessors fell and commits the same mistakes.

We must define the problem of Mogadishu before linking it to the stories discussed.

Mogadishu is a coastal city located in southern Somalia constituting the first capital of the country. In it are the most important institutions of the state, the presidential palace, the largest airport in Somalia, the largest port in Somalia and the largest commercial market in all of East Africa. Its importance lies in its institutions and special characteristics. The Harakat Al-Shabaab Al Mujahideen controlled most of it, before their recent swift withdrawal!!

However, the main facilities including the Mogadishu airport, its port and presidential palace were under the control of the hirelings of the Americans from the forces and the transitional government and the approximately 8,000 to 10,000 soldiers from the African Union (AMISOM) forces that protect them.

These forces are based in camps within secluded areas of Mogadishu and no one is permitted to be in proximity to them or even to leave these bases most of the time. They guard and protect the key facilities and respond to any attack upon them by killing civilians in the Bakaara Market, the residential areas of Yaaqshiid and Kaaraan district and the rest of the areas of Mogadishu subject to Harakat Al-Shabaab Al Mujahideen.

What is the Reaction of Harakat Al-Shabaab to this Presence???

Harakat Al-Shabaab has tried to get rid of these occupying forces by a number of means, of which we mention:

The First Method is Direct Confrontation

Al-Shabaab succeeded in taking control of 95% of the capital Mogadishu during this confrontation and made a great impact on the psyche of Muslims around the world by the victories they achieved over these AMISOM forces and the forces of the transitional government. Indeed they destroyed most of the forces of the transitional government which had become completely worn out just guarding the key facilities. But this method did not result in a 100% solution, because before them remained a numerous and strongly equipped enemy based in a narrow area with their backs to the sea. The government was able to dispense with these soldiers in exchange for the money the Americans paid. This meant that Al-Shabaab would have no choice but to throw those armored vehicles and tanks into the ocean in order to get rid of them, even though (the enemy) was occupying the high ground. And any attempt to take control of the high ground would require a larger assaulting force below. This course would lead to the killing of large numbers of innocent victims as a result of the random shelling conducted by the African forces against residential areas and markets.

So this did not lead to the final solution, because a nucleus of the enemy remained which would enable them to grow through the importation of new weapons and more soldiers and training Somali hirelings from abroad.

The failure to terminate this presence by this means also resulted in the intervention of foreign advisors from France and America, as well as mercenary Blackwater forces. This meant that prolonging this course of action did not serve the interests of Al-Shabaab in any way because the enemy, especially America, never tires of trying to dupe them.

So it was Necessary to Use a Different Means

The other course of actions means that Al-Shabaab continues to control what they have and incorporate a different method in the confrontation, namely guerilla warfare, especially along the lines of the Iraqi and Afghan guerilla war. Those two schools in guerilla warfare have become a source of inspiration for the entire world, through the grace of Allah. This recourse to guerilla warfare in areas controlled by the African forces has proven Al-Shabaab’s great capacity for success. They have killed two interior ministers in the Sharif government and killed high-ranking leaders in the African forces, including the deputy chief of the contingent and the leader of the Burundi forces who was a candidate for the presidency in his own country. This experience has proven a great capacity for success not achieved by direct confrontation. But so far sufficient enough harm has not been inflicted to force the withdrawal of these forces, and so the enemy’s plotting did not cease and the nucleus of the enemy was not destroyed and they were not harassed to the degree necessary. Nonetheless, this has proven to be a very strong course of action.

The Obstacles which are Preventing Al-Shabaab from Achieving Complete Realization of their Goals have Crystallized

- African forces rarely leave their bases.
- The key facilities are very strongly guarded.

(Enemy) control is imposed over a very small area. They control a (square) kilometer, Makka al-Mukarama Road and other small areas with very strong force. This means that the safe havens necessary to conduct guerilla warfare are very few and difficult to obtain.

The ceaseless plotting of the enemy against the Mujahideen: direct attacks and confrontations never stop in Mogadishu. Their bombing of the markets, which destroys shops and kills merchants, never stops. This undermines the economy. The number of these forces still increases, and the intervention of Western forces increases day after day, and the intelligence agencies escalate their work.

This is what makes us say that the best solution is:

Withdrawal from Mogadishu!!

The withdrawal from Mogadishu will provide the appropriate environment for the birth of guerilla warfare like the Taliban conducted after withdrawing from Kabul, and like our brothers in Iraq did after withdrawing from the cities. So the war has changed from conventional war to guerilla war. The great harm – Allah willing – will be inflicted on the African forces and government forces, which will weaken their security control, and open the door to target important facilities in Mogadishu. This will permit their tanks to move about the capital to be hunted by the explosives of Al-Shabaab, and will permit their soldiers to move around the markets of Mogadishu, especially Bakaara Market, as their Ethiopian brothers did, which means an increase in the number of fatalities among their soldiers. This will permit us to conduct strong surveillance on them. We just want them to come out so we can see them - let us see your tanks, let us see your soldiers, come out of your camps!!

The enemies have swallowed the bait. Mogadishu has become the new Kabul, the new Kandahar, the new Ramadi. Mogadishu has become what Moscow became to Napoleon. Just let the enemy come out, he will fall in the great Mogadishu trap!!

The withdrawal of the brothers from Mogadishu has another beautiful aspect to it: these forces which are crying over the security and hunger of civilians are the ones who are fighting and killing during a time of famine.

They are the ones who control Mogadishu. Their talk does not mean that Al-Shabaab are banning aid. For they are under the hands of your beloved ones!!

Finally I say:

Let them become intoxicated as Napoleon was intoxicated by Moscow and as the Russians and Americans were by Kabul, and as the Awakening Councils were by Anbar. But the Sunnah of Allah and the fortune of war fluctuates. The happy one is he who laughs last.

And may peace and blessings of Allah be upon you.

Penned by:

Brother Abu Abdul Malik
(May Allah Protect Him)

Don't Forget Us in Your Prayers
Your Brothers at: Ansar al-Mujahideen

Submitted by a Mujahid

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