Shebabs announce they have organized a forum on "Jihad in East Africa"

Text by: RFI Follow

Shebabs have for years implemented well-propaganda. But the Somali terrorist group has just used a new tool. The Islamists have disseminated an image and official statement of what it presents as a large forum. The conference would have lasted 5 days and gathered a hundred participants.

Publicity

With our correspondent in Nairobi , Sébastien Németh

The photos show dozens of men, their faces sometimes blurred, presented as intellectuals, tribal leaders or even scientists. They are seated in a decorated hall, discussing or listening to speeches in the gallery of this conference called "Consultative Forum concerning Jihad in East Africa".

On the agenda: the situation on the ground and that of Muslims at the economic, political, health and educational levels. A 14-point conclusion was even adopted, speaking of continuing the fight but also of rejecting the election expected in December.

This diffusion occurs while the movement is on the defensive. The Americans continue to intensify their drone attacks , with more than thirty strikes since the beginning of the year, a record. A strategy that disrupts the communication and movement of the shebabs.

This new propaganda also comes when the group is experiencing internal divisions, and has just suffered several defeats, including the loss of the strategic city of Janaale.

This mode of communication is also a symbol showing that the group is organized , with its rules, its structure, its debates. As if the shebabs sought to show that they were a legitimate authority, with its sovereignty.

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• Somalia
• Shebabs
• Kenya

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