From Ally to Adversary: Shaykh Ahmed Madobe’s War on Al-Shabaab
From Ally to Adversary: Shaykh Ahmed Madobe’s War on Al-Shabaab
Shaykh Ahmed Madobe is a very influential Islamist warlord in southern Somalia who has turned his guns on his former ally, the al-Qaeda linked Somali Islamist group al-Shabaab. His role was elevated in September 2009 when al-Shabaab fighters ousted his Ras Kamboni Brigade from Kismayo where he served as a governor under the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) in 2006 (Mareeg.com, September 1 2009). Madobe has now allied himself with the Kenyan military intervention in southern Somalia which aims to destroy al-Shabaab’s regional training camps and create a Kenyan zone of influence that keeps al-Shabaab as far as possible from Kenya’s borderlands. Kenya, in partnership with Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG), has enlisted Madobe’s Ras Kamboni Movement—named after a coastal Somali town on the Kenyan border—as its local partner in a bid to oust dug-in al-Shabaab fighters from the crucial Somali port city of Kisamayo.
The Ras Kamboni Movement (formerly Brigade) has been a constituent member of the Hizbul Islam umbrella organization that was formed from the tacit unification of four ideologically separate Islamic groups in January 2009 (Shabelle Media Network, January 5, 2009). This consisted of the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS), the Ras Kamboni Brigade, Jabhatul al-Islamiya and the Anole Brigade. ARS was also backed by Isaias Afewerki’s Eritrea in its proxy struggle against Ethiopia which was then occupying parts of Somalia. The four groups’ respective leaders were often at odds with only Somali nationalist sentiment in common. Hizbul Islam became the second most powerful faction in Somalia after al-Shabaab (Reuters, May 2, 2010).
Ras Kamboni’s power base lay in the Lower and Middle Juba regions as well as the Gedo region. It remains a clan-based group that recruits solely from the Ogadeni population in southern Somalia (see Terrorism Monitor, November 4, 2011). Ras Kamboni played a major role in capturing Kismayo from the forces of the TFG in 2008 when it was then allied to al-Shabaab. Ras Kamboni leaders later felt betrayed by their supposed al-Shabaab allies who were only meant to control Kisamayo’s affairs for a limited time. Following the expulsion of the TFG from Kisamayo, the administration of the lucrative port and town was appointed to an al-Shabaab Afghan war veteran called Ibrahim Jama. Jama, better known by his nom de guerre al-Afghani, hails from the Isaq clan in northern Somalia’s de facto Somaliland state. Almost all members of the Kisamayo’s interim administration were not from clans in the region surrounding Kismayo which can be a death knell in Somalia’s intensely clan-based political structures (Soomaalidamaanta.com, September 1, 2009).
One of Madobe’s allies is an ICU alumnus called Shaykh Ibrahim Shukro (also denoted as Shukri-a.k.a. Abu Zainab; Abdinasir Seraar). Shukro is currently working with Shaykh Ahmed Madobe to undermine Shaykh Hassan Abdullahi al-Turki. Al-Turki, the founder of Ras Kamboni and formerly leader of 1990s-era al-Itihaad al-Islamiya, was assailed for failing to secure their positions in Kisamayo’s local power structure. However, al-Turki who was an al-Shabaab ally, promised he would secure beneficial positions for the group in a new city council to be formed after six months. [1] Since these machinations, Ras Kamboni officials have become unhappy with Shaykh Hassan al-Turki’s leadership. In Madobe’s capacity as a military leader and Shukro’s as an administrative one, the two men began to work even more closely together to discard the al-Shabaab-allied al-Turki and consolidate their own power in a push for control of Kisamayo.
Shaykh Ahmed Madobe was detained by the Ethiopian military in November 2006 and was released from an Ethiopia prison to later be elected as member of the ARS’s 200 MPs when the Somali parliament was greatly expanded to include members of the Islamist ARS faction in a bid to ease tension inside perpetually warring Somalia (Garowe Online, April 4, 2009). He returned to Kismayo in late March 2009 and rejoined Ras Kamboni. On April 3, 2009, in his first public appearance in Kismayo since the collapse of ICU, Madobe said his membership in Somali parliament was the only way to obtain his release from his Ethiopian captors. He then immediately announced his resignation from the body on April 4, 2009.
His reemergence in Kismayo comes as the leadership of Ras Kamboni is in trouble, becoming more al-shabaab ideologist and he is loosing the support from his clan traditional elders. Shaykh Hassan Abdullahi al-Turki, suffering diabetes at that time, faced a leadership challenge from his son-in-law Shaykh Ahmed Madobe. Madobe, who has strong ties with the traditional leaders of his clan, became the only choice of the rest of the Ras Kamboni leaders to challenge Shaykh Hassan al-Turki from whom they had become estranged. Shaykh Hassan al-Turki, who had been linked to al-Qaeda fundraising and involvement in the August 1998 East African embassy bombings, is considered a hardliner who favors al-Qaeda ideology over the specific interests of his own clan. The U.S. Department of the Treasury designated al-Turki as a terrorist financier in 2004. [2]
On September 23 2009, al-Shabaab extended their own administration by an additional six months but this power play only bolstered Shaykh Madobe’s growing anti-al-Shabaab role. Shaykh Hassan al-Turki now opposed extending al-Shabaab administration and described the new administration as “disregard of the other Mujahideen.” However, al-Shabaab continued to collect taxes from Kismayo’s strategic port in order to pay its fighters and fund its operations. Madobe felt that most of the taxes being imposed on traders from his clan were ultimately used only to pay al-Shabaab fighters (Dhanbaal.com, September, 23 2009). As a local business leader involved in the lobster trade this incensed him.
On September 30, 2009 the spokesman of al-Shabaab administration in Kismayo, Hassan Yaqub, declared war on Ras Kamboni (Mareeg.com, 30 September 2009). The Asmara wing of ARS and Jabhatul Islamiya maintained their cooperation with al-Shabaab and abandoned Ras Kamboni while the Anole Brigade which was the weakest member of the alliance decided to remain neutral. Ras Kamboni itself divided into two group wings. The group’s founder Shaykh Hassan Abdullahi Hersi al-Turki chose to side with al-Shabaab while the Ras Kamboni’s current leader Shaykh Ahmed Madobe decided to fight al-Shabaab and its allies.
Although Ras Kamboni were pushed out of Kismayo in a matter of days and in November 2009 al-Shabaab advanced to the areas include Afmadow, Bilis Qooqaani and Dhobley, which was thought to be Madobe’s new base. Madobe’s knowledge of the local terrain gave him considerable advantage whereby he was able to wage a rapidly expanding guerrilla war in the region and gain a foothold in power (Shabelle Radio, October 1, 2009).
When Hizbul Islam aligned with al-Shabaab in February 2010, Madobe allied with the TFG and Sufi movement Ahlu Sunna Waljama in their existing war against al-Shabaab. Since then, the influence of Madobe’s Ras Kamboni has grown. It has attracted the backing of regional powers Kenya and Ethiopia. Both Kenya and Ethiopia backed Madobe to fight al-Shabaab whom both East African states consider to be a significant threat to the entire region.
The number of fighters in Madobe’s Ras Kamboni militia is increasing. A military subordinate of Madobe’s who wished to remain anonymous because of he was not authorized to make statements on record told, The Jamestown Foundation that the group currently boasts approximately 3,000 armed men. Madobe rarely appears in the media due in part to the rough environment which he inhabits. His only method of communication is by mobile telephone which can prove difficult due to local network limitations. Only a handful of images of him have surfaced since the Kenyan Defense Forces entered Somalia when he frequently appeared in Kenya’s media. At the moment Shaykh Ahmed Madobe is the choice of both Nairobi and Addis Ababa due to past dealings with the Kenyan and Ethiopian governments.
Although it should be said that the Zenawi government is wary of his Ogadeni background because of Ethiopia’s fear of Ogadeni irredentism inside Ethiopia. The Kenyans picked Madobe because of his past role in commanding an army and believes that he could easily raise a regular fighting force to stabilize Jubaland as a pro-Kenyan buffer zone once the battle against al-Shabaab in the region has been effectively won on the battlefield. His opponent is an educated Somali Professor called Mohamed Abdi Mohamed ‘Gandi’ who served as the Defense Minister of the TFG in 2009 but Kenyan military officials favor Madobe because Gandi is more of a political and business figure rather than a military man (The East African, October 30, 2011).
In an interview he gave Kenya’s NTV, Madobe said that he is fighting to free his people from the very al-Shabaab with whom he once had common cause. He described himself as a patriot who seeks an end to 20 years of continuous warfare and has a strong desire to return to his business (NTV [Nairobi], November 11). He told his Kenyan interviewer that while al-Shabaab may have at one point been a force for the liberation of Somalia, their agenda was now an entirely unhelpful one which only brought more suffering and isolation to the Somali people. Madobe is portraying himself as someone who can turn the tide against al-Shabaab while eventually returning the areas of southern Somalia under his control to a modicum of normalcy.
Notes
1. Jamestown interview with Ras Kamboni officer who requested anonymity, Mogadishu, December 12, 2011.
2. Designation of Hassan Abdullah Hersi al-Turki under Executive Order 13224, U.S. Department of State, June 3, 2004.
