Mogadishu, July 06: Somali al-Shabaab fighters have reportedly issued a deadline for the country’s government to hand over all the weapons in its possession.
On Monday, top al-Shabaab commander Sheik Mukhtar Abu Subeyr said the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and its affiliates have five days to deliver up their armaments, a Press TV correspondent reported.
Subeyr warned his group’s gunmen against showing mercy to the government’s officials in their captivity or the ones they could capture.
The comments were made in a recorded message that had been passed onto the local radio stations in the capital, Mogadishu.
After recently breaking their promise of non-violence to the government, the Shabaab militants embarked on making conquests across the country and confronting pro-government militias.
They currently hold sway in vast expanses of central Somalia as well as parts of the capital.
The insurgent leader said the group would not cease fire until they toppled the incumbent leadership. They would also reject any peace formula offered by the tribal elders or local clerics, he added.
The group accused Somali officials of ‘serving foreign interests’.
The resulting hostility has brought about unbridled unrest throughout the country, which has weathered 18 years of violence.
—–Agencies