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The militant group al-Shabaab on Friday threatened to attack Djibouti if the Horn of African nation deploys her troops to Somalia.
In a speech aired on a radio station in the Somali capital, the Islamist group’s spokesman Ali Mohmuud Rageh said the insurgents were preparing themselves to launch the attacks if Djibouti went ahead with her plan to send her soldiers to Somalia to join the African Union peace keeping force (AMISOM).
“Djibouti has been a part of the foreign operation hosting American air surveillance in Somalia for a long time and the country’s plan of sending troops clarifies its aggression against our country,” said Rageh. “Somali people gave property and fighters to Djibouti people to help win their freedom from the French infidels, and now your government wants to attack us and support the infidels who want to capture our country,” he told an al-Shabaab radio station. “We tell you, your troops are not better than those of Uganda and Burundi. If you do not keep them from attacking us, you will see the bodies of your children scattered on Mogadishu streets,” Rageh added.
He claimed that the Djibouti troops had been training in Uganda and Burundi in preparation for deployment.
Djibouti has announced its plans to send a battalion of peace keeping forces to the war-torn Horn of African nation. It would be the third African country to contribute troops to the 9,000-strong AMISOM peacekeepers currently stationed in Mogadishu. Burundi and Uganda are the only countries whose soldiers are serving in AMISOM.
Another African country, Guinea, has also pledged to send troops.