Ethiopia on Wednesday dismissed concerns by some opposition groups that the horn of Africa nation could be Al-Shabaab’s next terror target. After Al-Shabaab’s four-day attack on a shopping mall in the Kenyan capital,Nairobi, Ethiopian opposition officials told Sudan Tribune that the country could be the group’s next unless Ethiopian troops quits its long-standing military intervention in Somalia. These concerns, however, have been dismissed by a senior government official in Addis Ababa. “Al-Shabaab is a peace threat, although the level of threat it poses might vary. However the terrorist group poses no imminent threat to the country’s national security”, Dina Mufti, the spokesperson for the ministry of foreign affairs, told Sudan Tribune. “Our defense force and intelligence are capable enough to defend their country and there is no reason [for] the public should be worried” he added. The government official reaffirmed that Ethiopia will continue to keep its troops in Somalia until Al-Shabaab is weakened and a sustainable peace and security is maintained. Mufti further stressed a need for members of the East African block IGAD – the Intergovernmental Authority on Development – to closely and jointly work to curb such terrorist attacks.
Posted on: Sun, 29 Sep 2013 13:27:58 +0000
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