Harti in Kismayo give 40 Rifles + Cash to Shabaab (photos)

[waryaa]

monk, it is more of a confiscation than contribution. That's what shababs do all the time. They come to you and ask you whether u believe in their jihadi struggle. Then your property becomes theirs regardless of your answer. If yes, then u r asked to sacrifice and if no, u are doomed as murtad and robbed. These Kismayo folks are very lucky if they are not drafted and used as a sheild against AMISOM fire like those elders in Jowhar, Beledweyn and Baydhabo. These folks very lucky if they saved their livelihood with a few dozen guns.

[Monk-of-Mogadishu]

That's not based on fact, its something ripped out of tabloid. It is known that Shabaab has solicited businesses before for "contributions" (technically it just becomes a tax) which is standard procedure anywhere in the world. I also know that they forcibly disarm unruly factions, but they've never disarmed the public since they depend on the loyalty of the population and set memorandums of understanding in that way. For example, in my hometown there are 150 organized & independent clan militia but the city is under Shabaab; the militia protects their property, familial territory, and their kin [which is a human right] - there has never been an attempt to disarm them because those men are not political nor do they constitute a faction nor are they a challenge to Shabaab. Every single clan in Somalia is armed, even the Barawanis and Benaadiris, so its not even possible to forcibly disarm the whole southern populace - if that were the case Shabaab would have enough guns for at least 50,000 men. Even Cirtoogte weapons bazaar was always open to the public despite being under the control of Shabaab since at least 2007 [they even controlled it under the UIC in 2006]. Livestock was also part of the package; did Shabaab loot that too? And considering the overwhelmingly positive attitude that Harti Kismayoans have towards Shabaab, this particular event has long been overdue. I have relatives in Kismayo and several other places in the wider province, and they have had the opposite experience of the type of actions you are describing. I see this action for what it is - a community getting together to support the most viable authority & most peaceful environment they've seen in over two decades and its guaranteed that they will not enjoy the current tranquility if the Shabaab were to be defeated - in sum this is a strategic and obvious investment on the part of the community.

I don't know why people living outside of Shabaab regions or abroad have such a strong conviction against the organization when their only source is most often a tabloid or skewed journalism. The people I know, family & family friends, who live in the Shabaabist regions of Somalia describe a civil paradise - pertaining to law&order, justice distribution, and the absence of double standards and corruption [I've known rich businessmen who were executed for adultery, this is the kind of justice rich men in other societies have immunity from]. I have yet to meet a single person with a substantially negative reaction towards Shabaab, I've only heard of them recruiting young kids [though not forcibly nor any non-pubescent youth, as you hear in the media] and rushing marriages [again, not forcibly as claimed in the media - then again, a young man who wants to get married can't be a bad thing for the legions of involuntarily single women]. I've never even heard of the so-called "coercion" of business that's always in the media and I've got several relatives, even my old man, who operate businesses in the dominion of the masked teenagers yet they all describe living and operating with autonomy despite the heavy local security presence of the youth. Hell, even supposedly reliable "analytical" SomaliaReport is known to blatantly lie, citing events on various topics that clearly have not happened. Anyway, I'm neutral to southern affairs, my only loyalty being to PL, but what I said is the truth and the only reality.

[Faant]

Did'ent we get enough suffering from clan wars?

[The_Emperior5]

Did'ent we get enough suffering from clan wars?

only weak clans give up the clan that gives up loses all the power and gets owned