World
The Shadowy Center Helping Former al-Shabab Members Quit
Al-Shabab fighters near Mogadishu, February 17, 2011. (AP Photo)
(BBC) – In a small, heavily guarded compound on the bullet-riddled outskirts of Baidoa, a secretive team is working to undermine Somalia’s Islamist militant group, al-Shabab, from the inside.
“We can’t just solve this militarily,” said Aden Mohamed Hussein, ushering me past the soldiers at the gate.
“So far so good… We hope for a domino effect.”
Mr Hussein runs a new “disengagement” programme for surrendering al-Shabab members at the camp here in Baidoa, an hour’s helicopter ride northwest of the capital Mogadishu, towards the Ethiopian border.
Al-Shabab no longer controls the town or, we’re assured, the surrounding countryside. But attacks are still frequent and our time inside the compound is strictly limited.
