Somalia: Al-Shabaab releases video of 'special forces' in new recruitment strategy

NAIROBI, Kenya - The Somali-based Al-Shabaab militants have released a video purportedly of its 'Special Forces' team, in what analysts believe is a recruitment strategy targeting the youths at the time the group is facing an onslaught from the military in Somalia.

The propaganda video, analysts say, could pose a renewed threat to the region and beyond. This is the first time in as many months the group is releasing a video of its fighters in a purported training camp at an unidentified location.

Al-Shabaab militants on Tuesday published a more than one hour-long propaganda film about a “Special Force” that graduated from the group’s “Training Academy of Sheikh Osama Bin Laden,” as the militants’ video claims, VOA reports.

The dissemination of this slick, propaganda video by al-Shabaab appears to be intended to recruit more fighters from the region as it’s translated into seven languages including Somali, English, Arabic; and more significantly - Amharic, Oromo, Swahili, and French.

The seven languages are widely spoken in the Horn of Africa and East African regions where Somalia is a member. The group previously recruited foreign fighters with most of them coming from Kenya, a country which has borne the brunt of the Al-Shabaab war.

Ahmed Fiqi, Somalia's Foreign Affairs minister, dismissed the video as an 'exaggeration similar to Hollywood movies'. Fiqi insisted the Somali National Army has made a huge milestone in the fight against the Al-Shabaab militants over the years.

"I saw some members of the terrorist group making a propaganda video & exaggerating. It is evident that they are hiding their weakness with a well-produced film," said Fiqi, a seasoned diplomat and politician in the Federal Republic of Somalia.

"On the other hand, it is our national forces who have turned Al-Shabab from real fighters into Hollywood actors," he added in praise for the Somali National Army, which is currently fighting the militants in central and southern regions.

The militants have lost significant territories in the last two years but they are determined to create a false impression of dominance within the region. Al-Shabaab militants are fighting to topple the fragile UN-backed federal government of Somalia.

GAROWE ONLINE