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THREAD: Somalia based Al Qaeda affiliate Al Shabab released a horrific 1 hour high production propaganda video of its January 2019 ambush on members of Ethiopia's African Union troop contingent on the road between Buur Hakaba to Baidoa in southern Somalia. What the video reveals:
Background: Ethiopian troops have had an AU/UN mandated military presence in Somalia for much of the past decade, Kenya & Burundi also contribute troops as Somalia's military is unable to withstand the Al Shabab threat. An ISIS affiliate has also been active in recent years.
Al Shabab regularly target foreign troops, calling them "Christian crusaders." The terrorist organization is best known for its shedding of innocent Somali blood, with its worst attack being the Oct 2017 truck bombing in Mogadishu that killed ~500. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/15/truck-bomb-mogadishu-kills-people-somalia
Al Shabab's media wing, Al Kataib is known for its release of high quality productions featuring attacks against their opponents. Most renowned, video of their January 2016 overrunning of a Kenyan base. As many as 200 soldiers may have died in that attack. https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2020-01-24-el-adde-how-147-kdf-soldiers-met-their-death-in-somalia/
Here are images from previous videos. Al Shabab typically display looted weaponry, uniforms, vehicles and scores of dead bodies. Ugandan, Burundian and Somali government army bases have been overrun in previous attacks.
Al Shabab are yet to overrun an Ethiopian military base, despite several attempts. One such attempt at a base in Halgan in June 2016, resulted in the attack being repulsed. Visiting journalists were given a tour of the base by AU forces a few days later.
This latest release by Al Kataib is the second attack displaying Ethiopian troop losses since 2015. It also appears to be Ethiopia's worst battlefield loss of life in recent years. At the very least, a dozen troops were killed and their bodies paraded on camera.
But this video, also shows that Al Kataib releases of its infamous orange bandana wearing brigade that wreaked havoc on foreign bases between 2014-2016, might be no more. Settling for filming road side ambushes could suggest a drop in its military capability vs AU forces.
Prior to showing the assault, the Al Kataib video shows an interview with this Al Shabab commander bragging about killing an Ethiopian officer and carrying out attacks on foreign troops with regularity, going as far as naming a fallen officer and displaying his id card here.
What might not be apparent for the viewer, is the id card is that of Captain Mehari Woldu Girma, who died in coincidentally, the last filmed assault on Ethiopian troops in Somalia...in June 2015, near Beledweyne. Footage from the 2015 video follows. https://twitter.com/ZekuZelalem/status/1086328729926721536
Again, Al Shabab displaying 5 year old footage...and making repeated references to that 2015 ambush likely highlights that more recent success against foreign troops has been few and far between. These facts highlight the group's shortcomings if anything, in recent years.
For instance, Ethiopian @amisomsomalia uniforms here including one belonging to a soldier named "Eyob." Whoever Eyob is/was, his uniform was captured in 2015, much of the footage is rehashed from the previous assault.
Assault begins, two Ethiopian military vehicles with AU markings, a tank and a truck, are seen driving by. Al Kataib add the Ethiopian flag to identify them. The tank appears to hit an IED & then blue bandanna wearing Al Shabab militants hidden in thorny bushes come out & attack.
Religious nasheeds can be heard, as automatic fire rages everywhere, although it's quite apparent the Ethiopian contingent stood little change. Outmanned &with fighting at close proximity, it's unclear if the Ethiopians were ever able to make use of the turret & heavy guns seen.
Over a dozen bodies of fallen soldiers are paraded on camera. Al Shabab, claimed that 57 soldiers were killed, although there's no way the two vehicles could transport that many men. Likely half the amount perished.
Documents of one of the soldiers, Tariku Chena Dissa, shows he completed his training in 2017, before dying in this ambush. The soldiers hail from across Ethiopia, with objects such as a Gadaa Oromo flag also seen among the bodies.
Throughout the video, Al Kataib also attempt to portray Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed as an aggressive invader, playing up Ethiopia and Somalia's history of warfare.
Al Shabab supporting media outlet @MoradNews claimed in a recent tweet that the Ethiopian government and AU were yet to comment on the assault, despite it being a year and a half since it happened and despite the emergence of a video.
However, this isn't true. In what was unprecedented, Ethiopia acknowledged its troops were ambushed and promised to avenge them in a "massive offensive," against the group. Ethiopia didn't reveal the extent of its losses. https://www.voanews.com/africa/ethiopia-readies-massive-offensive-al-shabab-somalia
About two weeks later, the BBC reported that an Ethiopian airstrike on the group killled 35 Al Shabab militants. It is unclear whether or not the airstrike was part of the offensive it had announced. https://www.bbc.com/amharic/news-47053067
Ethiopian army officials told local press of a second ambush in Somalia by Al Shabab militants that was thwarted, in April of 2017.
https://www.ezega.com/News/NewsDetails/7887/Ethiopian-Airstrike-Kills-17-Al-Shabaab-Troops
https://www.ezega.com/News/NewsDetails/7887/Ethiopian-Airstrike-Kills-17-Al-Shabaab-Troops
Whatever the case, the January 2019 ambush saw Ethiopian troops suffer their worst combat loss of life in recent years. The video is distressing, extremely graphic and saddening to watch. I won't share it and don't ask me for the link.
Among footage included in the August 2020 Al Kataib release.....video filmed by the old Union of Islamic Courts....of this yet to be identified Ethiopian soldier, who was killed in 2007. https://twitter.com/ZekuZelalem/status/816385070181285893
Al Shabab have carried out horrific atrocities against Somali civilians & their brutality targeting innocent civilians knows no limits. But their latest propaganda release shows that their efficiency against foreign troops might have at the very least, diminished somewhat.
But it brings up an important debate, why haven't foreign troops gone on the offensive against the group in recent years if there military capacity has stagnated somewhat? Since Kenya's Operation Linda Nchi, there's been little "map of control" progress. AMISOM's mandate puzzles.
The wars in Somalia are a whole other topic, a whole other thread, a whole other mess. Solidarity with the people of Somalia who battle back from setback after setback. Thread is over, apologies for the length, and thanks for your patience.
