Sunday September 7, 2025
Beledweyne (HOL) — Hirshabelle state leaders accused Somalia’s federal government on Sunday of failing to support community fighters in Hiiraan who spearheaded the battle against al-Shabaab, warning that the neglect has allowed the militant group to regain ground.
Interior Minister Abdi Dahir Guure Karore said the Ma'awiisleey militias, drawn from Hiiraan residents, have been left without promised reinforcements and resources from Mogadishu. He said the federal government’s inaction has weakened the offensive and undermined earlier victories.
“The federal government has clearly abandoned the Ma'awiisleey,” Karore said. “When government troops in Hiiraan depended on them, they carried the burden. When they faltered, it meant the government had also faltered.”
Karore credited the fighters with confronting al-Shabaab “with courage,” saying they sacrificed “blood and wealth” to defend their land. But he stressed that local communities cannot sustain the fight alone and now “deserve real support” from national authorities and other Somalis.
The Ma'awiisleey, meaning “men in sarongs,” emerged in 2022 after al-Shabaab intensified assassinations of elders, extortion of farmers and restrictions on trade in Hiiraan. Their uprising, backed initially by Somali National Army units and allied clan militias, liberated dozens of towns and villages. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud hailed the movement as a symbol of his declared “total war” against the insurgents.
Despite early gains, the militias have struggled to hold territory as federal follow-through waned. Residents and Hirshabelle officials say limited government assistance left the fighters lightly armed and overstretched, enabling al-Shabaab to retake several areas that had been cleared two years ago.