MOGADISHU, Somalia — A prominent elder from Somalia’s Mudulood clan has accused Kenya of hosting Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen and his associates, whom he alleged have links to the Al-Shabaab and are responsible for bloodshed of Somali and Kenyan civilians.
Caaqil Nur Hussein Ali made the accusations at a news conference in Mogadishu on Thursday, sharply criticising the Kenyan government for allegedly providing shelter and political asylum to Laftagareen, his associates and his father-in-law, military commander Shub.
The elder accused Laftagareen and Shub of belonging to Al-Shabaab and of being responsible for bloodshed among Somali civilians, particularly in the South West state. He said their presence in Kenya was contributing to insecurity and instability in Somalia.
Ali questioned Kenya’s approach to counterterrorism, arguing that Nairobi appeared to identify militants primarily as armed individuals carrying guns or carrying out bombings, while allegedly providing accommodation and protection to people he accused of having links to the group.
“It seems that our neighbouring Kenyan government considers only those carrying guns and planting explosives in vehicles, killing people, as terrorists, but does not recognise as such those it has accommodated in hotels and granted political asylum, who are causing problems in Somalia,” he said.
He said Laftagareen and Shub were undermining the Somali federal government, particularly affecting residents of South West state and the administration led by Sheikh Adan Mohamed Nur, commonly known as Adan Madobe.
Ali argued that the situation could have been avoided had Kenya not granted refuge to Laftagareen and his associates, whom he described as internationally wanted terrorists who should be handed over to Somali authorities.
He called on the federal government in Mogadishu to issue arrest warrants for Laftagareen and his associates over their alleged links to Al-Shabaab, and to formally request their extradition from Kenya.
The elder said Somalia and Kenya maintained good diplomatic relations and security cooperation, particularly in the fight against militant groups, and urged Nairobi to work with Mogadishu to bring those accused to justice.
Ali also expressed condolences to the Kenyan government and people over a recent attack on the outskirts of Mandera, in which civilians and construction engineers were killed.
He said he sympathised with Kenya over casualties caused by militant attacks and urged its government to hand Laftagareen over to Somalia.
The Somali federal government imposed sanctions on Laftagareen and froze his bank accounts in October 13 for Al-Shabaab links. The local financial institutions and banks have been ordered to immediately freeze all assets and bank accounts registered in the names of Laftagareen and other individuals on the list.