LONDON (Reuters) - Somalia has one year to expel the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab militant group from the country, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said on Tuesday, with the deadline for remaining African Union peacekeepers to leave looming next December. Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabaab has been waging a brutal insurgency against the Somali government since 2006 in a bid to establish its own rule based on a strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law. The focus was on eliminating "the residual" al Shabaab, he said. Mohamud's recent drive against al Shabaab began in August last year, with the military rallying behind clan-based militias in central Somalia. The most recent phase is meant to push into southern Somalia, the traditional stronghold of al Shabaab.

Source: Ethiopian News November 21, 2023 20:21 UTC