Self-Sacrificing Targets

[Al-Shabab] "an organized but shifting Islamist group dedicated to establishing a Somali caliphate, waging war against the (sic: perceived) enemies of Islam and removing all foreign forces and Western influence from Somalia".
Public Safety Canada website

Canada formally recognized Al-Shabab as a terrorist organization in 2010 in response to the growing realization that the group had infiltrated the consciousness of Canadian youths of Somalian heritage for recruitment into jihad. It was not only from Canada, but the United States and throughout Europe that young Somali men were returning to the country of their heritage to join Al-Shabab, lured by the prospect of doing something 'positive' for their country as devout Muslims.

Or simply attracted to the prospect of perceived adventure, of the excitement of conflict, of becoming skilled as a fighter and in the use of firearms and explosive devices, thanks to training camps that further indoctrinate the young and the impressionable into the ideology of violent jihad. It is a quite exclusive club, in fact. One in which there is little doubt that some young men take especial pride in being a part of.

Following the deadly attack by Al-Shabab in Nairobi in September where four gunmen slaughtered 67 innocent people at the upscale Westgate shopping mall, the Somali-Canadian community in Toronto held a rally to condemn Al-Shabab. Somalia used to be known primarily for its 'resistance' to American forces attempting to restore civil order to a country riven by violence. And then it was known for its piracy on the high seas.

Piracy is no longer an issue; international ships patrolling the waters off the Somali coast have more or less put an end to Somalian Islamist attacks on shipping freighters in the region, holding them for ransom and holding their crews as hostages. A free enterprise initiative that many ascribed to Somali fishermen desperate to replace their livelihood interrupted by illegal poaching by other fishing nations' boats.

Somali-Canadians have been leaving Canada for reasons other than to join a terrorist group in their country of origin. Many, like Sooyaan Abdi Warsame who had lived in Toronto since the early 1990s when he emigrated to Canada, the son of a government minister before the country's collapse, returned to help Somalia rebuild itself. He was named to the Federal Parliament of Somalia in 2012.

He has returned to Canada and Toronto seeking medical treatment. He was injured in a suicide bombing when an Al-Shabab car bomb exploded outside the Hotel Maka in Mogadishu on November 8. Six others died in the attack. Mr. Warsame's injuries are confined to shrapnel wounds.

On Tuesday, a car bomb exploded outside the Beledweyne police headquarters in south-central Somalia leaving 19 dead. Another al-Shabab success, target ting African Union troops. It was, in fact, African Union troops, hugely represented by Kenyan military that succeeded in removing Al-Shabab from some its Somalia strongholds; the Nairobi attack was in reprisal.

The explosion at the Hotel Maka, a popular venue used by Mogadishu's government and business elite, killed Abdulkadir Ali Dhuub, Somalia's once acting ambassador to London. The bomb had been wrapped in sharp objects, striking Mr. Warsame, among others.

A host on the Somali-language Toronto FM station Radio Ogaal noted diaspora Somalis return to Mogadishu to serve in government, to set up businesses and to work for NGOs. The very fact that they are focused on doing their part to bring stability, good governance and change for the better to Somalia, brings them to the malevolent attention of Al-Shabab.

"They're making an effort", said Hassan Abdillahi. "The bad thing is, they will be the targets."