Somalia: Robow dares Al-Shabaab to hit Mogadishu

[Deeq A.]

MOGADISHU, Somalia – Somalia’s Minister of Religious Affairs, Sheikh Mukhtar Robow Ali, has declared that Al-Shabaab militants will never capture the capital, Mogadishu, saying Mogadishu isn’t Kabul or Damascus.

At a press conference alongside Somali clerics on March 8, 2025, Robow hailed recent victories by government forces and local militias in thwarting the group’s advances in the Middle Shabelle region.

Robow, a former Al-Shabaab deputy turned government official, dismissed the group’s reported plot to seize Mogadishu.

“I tell Al-Shabaab: Mogadishu isn’t Kabul or Damascus, and your Ahmed isn’t Syria’s Ahmed al-Sharaa,” he said, referencing the Islamist leader who briefly rose in Syria’s post-Assad chaos in late 2024.

He praised the Somali National Army and community fighters for reclaiming territory in Middle Shabelle, a strategic region northeast of the capital.

“Our forces and the people have crushed their hopes of retaking lost ground,” Robow said, signaling a robust defense against the militants’ resurgence.

Somalia has battled Al-Shabaab for over a decade, with the Al-Qaeda-linked group controlling swathes of rural territory despite repeated military campaigns.

Robow’s remarks come as the insurgents have clawed back footholds in Middle Shabelle, prompting a fresh mobilization of government troops and local Macawiisley militias.

A personal toll

The minister also revealed a personal blow from the conflict. He disclosed that last month—during the Islamic month of Sha’baan, spanning February 2025—Al-Shabaab abducted his brother’s wife and abandoned her young son, Saaid Adan Robow, on a roadside.

“They kidnapped my brother’s wife and left little Saaid Adan Robow in the street,” Robow said, his voice carrying the weight of a family caught in the crossfire.

Once known as Abu Mansuur during his years with Al-Shabaab, Robow defected in 2017, surrendering to authorities after internal rifts.

His insider perspective now fuels his resolve as a cabinet member under President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, elected in May 2022.

Rallying the Nation

Robow called on Somalis to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with their government to defeat the insurgency. “We must unite against Al-Shabaab’s terrorism,” he urged, framing the fight as a national cause.

His plea follows intensified clashes in Middle Shabelle, where the militants recently recaptured towns they’d lost to earlier offensives, according to local security sources.

The minister’s defiance underscores Somalia’s precarious balance. Based in Mogadishu, the federal government holds limited sway beyond urban centers, while Al-Shabaab exploits rural power vacuums.

Recent gains—such as a December 2024 deal with Ethiopia to ease regional tensions—have bolstered Somalia’s diplomatic hand, but the domestic threat persists.

Middle Shabelle’s fertile plains have long been a battleground, with its proximity to Mogadishu making it a prized target for Al-Shabaab.

The Macawiisley, clan-based militias clad in traditional sarongs, have reorganized to counter the group’s latest push, backing up a stretched national army.

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