The Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) claimed Al-Qa’ida has appointed a local commander to head its operations in Mogadishu, Reuters reported.
The local commander is Adan Hashi Arou, an Islamist rebel in his thirties, who trained in Afghanistan, Somalia’s Defense Minister ‘Salad ‘Ali Jili told Reuters.
Jili added that Arou was appointed after long consultations between the Somali Supreme Council of Islamic Courts (SCIC) and Al-Qai’da.
The SCIC were ousted earlier this year after the Ethiopian army came to the assistance of the TFG. Most, if not all, of the SCIC leaders have escaped Mogadishu. Nevertheless, their followers are still conducting small-scale gun fights in the capital.
The U.S. has long maintained that Al-Qa’ida was aiding the Islamist forces in eastern Africa, especially in Somalia, where the SCIC had ruled most of the country for almost a year.