Hundreds of Somali nationals living in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the US held a demonstration in support of Kenyan troops that are currently deep inside Somalia hunting down the Al Shabaab militia.

Waving placards, some that bore the message “Shariff is double-faced and Kenya is our good neighbour,” the Somali nationals said the safety of peace loving Somalis is at stake with the Al Qaeda militia controlling big swathes of the country.

“Kenya welcomed us with open arms, sheltering us when we were refugees. We, therefore, cannot pay back that friendly gesture by refusing them to go after enemies who are constantly attacking their country, targeting tourists and setting off bombs to kill and inflict harm on their people,” said Mohamed Omar Gange, a community leader while addressing the crowd in a chilly Fall evening.

Speaking at the same event, Ugaas Mohamud Unshur urged the Somali government to work with Kenyans to root out the Al Shabaab.

He appealed to Kenyan troops to remain in Somalia until they liberate the volatile southern part of the country and restore peace to innocent civilians who have never known peace under Al Shabaab occupation.

No ill intention

“Kenya has no intention of occupying our land. Kenya is only there to defend itself against foreign aggressors who have constantly attacked them and taken hostages aid workers, thus threatening peace and the tourism industry. Whoever does not support the Kenyan troops is an enemy of our people,” he added.

The apparent support of the Kenyan incursion into Somali by the Somali Diaspora is a game changer in a way because the Minnesota Somalis have been accused of being the source of Al Shabaab funding.

It is believed that some Somali youths from Minnesota have been recruited and are fighting alongside the Al Shabaab. Last week, two women of Somali descent were charged in a Minneapolis court with fundraising money for the Al Shabaab.

The US Government announced last year that it had charged 14 people as participants in “a deadly pipeline” to Somalia that routed money and fighters from the United States to the terrorist group.

At least seven of the 14 people were US citizens. Minnesota is home to about 70,000 Somalis who were resettled there after the collapse of Siad Barre’s government in 1991.

A group of young Somali men are believed to have left Minnesota to go and fight alongside the Islamic Courts Union in Somalia in 2007 when Ethiopian troops invaded Somalia to help the transitional government of former president Abdullahi Yusuf.

Meanwhile, the Muslim community in Migori County has supported the ongoing military operation in Somalia.

Ibrahim Omar Hussein, chairman of Migori Muslims Community called upon all Muslims in the country to support the operation, saying Al Shabaab poses a major security threat to the entire East African region.

“It is important that we do this to enable our soldiers to wipe out Al Shaabab militants,” he said.

He added the war was purely against terrorism and not targeting any particular religion.

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