Despite earlier statement on Tuesday that Al-Shabaab Commander Ahmed Omar would be shown in a video for the first time, the Al-Qaida associates changed their strategy.
Mr Omar, who is on the US and KDF surveillance, has been on the hiding since 2015 after taking over from Ahmed Godan. Mr Godan was killed by US forces.
On Tuesday, the Somalia-based militants released the video of Omar addressing a section of militants shortly before foiled attack at Ballidogle military base on September 30th.
“Our biggest target today is the Americans, not the apostates,” he says. “The only reason we have exerted all this effort and undertaken all this preparation today is to attack the American troops. Therefore you must carry out the operation with great efficiency.”
The 53 minute video starts with highlighting of alleged atrocities committed by the US and her allies in Somalia. The militants calls for withdrawal of all troops from Somalia.
Further, the militants accuse the US of supporting ‘incursion’ in Somalia. They specifically accuse Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Djibouti of illegal occupation.
During the attack at Ballidogle military base, authorities in Somalia confirmed that all the militants who attempted to run over the base were instantly killed.
In early September, the militants had released an audio of Omar where he fired salvos at Kenya over the Indian Ocean maritime dispute with Somalia.
“We are informing our Muslim nation that the Mujahideen will never accept, and are against any decision made by the so-called International Criminal Court,” said Omar.
“We tell the world that we don’t compromise on our oceans and we need our society to be aware that Kenya has already engulfed a large swathe of our territory before aiming for the maritime claim.”
