Meanwhile a month-long dispute among senior members of Al-Shabaab intensified last Saturday when a senior Al-Shabaab commander openly criticized the group's leading figure and Amir. Sheikh Fuad Mohamed Khalaf ‘Shongole’, publicly addressing the congregation at a mosque in Mogadishu's Bakara Market, claimed that Al-Shabaab’s Amir, Ahmed Abdi ‘Godane’, otherwise known as Sheikh Muktar Abdirahman Abu-Zubeyr , had "hidden agendas." Referring to ‘Godane’, ‘Shongole’ said "A leader is he who addresses his people and leads his people towards all good things, but fighting everyone is not part of the solution."

The dispute among Al-Shabaab's top leaders intensified earlier this month after Al-Shabaab forces attacked and seized Burhakaba town, located in Bay region northwest of Mogadishu. Thirty people were killed in the clashes as Al-Shabaab took over the town. Burhakaba had previously been under the control of Hizbul Islam, the other main extremist group, led by hardliner Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys. ‘Shongole said publicly at the mosque that "The fighting in Burhakaba was not jihad, because it’s haram [prohibited] for a Muslim person to kill another Muslim person and then brag about it." According to sources in Al-Shabaab, ‘Shongole’ is allied to Al-Shabaab's deputy commander, Sheikh Muktar Robow "Abu Mansur," who is a native of Bay region. ‘Godane’, Al Shabaab's leader and Amir, is from Somaliland.

This is the first time that a senior member of Al Shabaab has publicly condemned ‘Godane’, openly revealing the fractures that have occurred within the group since the fighting in September when a large number of Al-Shabaab fighters were killed in Mogadishu during clashes with African Union-backed Somali government forces when an Al-Shabaab attempted offensive was defeated. According to reports at least 800 Al-Shabaab fighters were killed, a majority of them brought down to Mogadishu from Bay and Bakool regions by Sheikh Muktar. The massive loss angered some members of Al-Shabaab’s executive council and led to private and outspoken criticisms of ‘Godane’ and others. Now the critics have gone public.

Despite the clashes between Al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam, there are now reports of an alliance between Hizbul Islam and one of the factions of Al-Shabaab. Last week, a consignment of weapons intended for Hizbul Islam was seized by TFG troops on the edge of Mogadishu. This was apparently a last ditch effort to reinforce Hizbul Islam’s forces and open another effort to try to retake Burhakaba. On December 15^th a meeting attended by Hizbul Islam’s leader, Sheikh Hassan Dahir ‘Aweys’, announced Hizbul Islam’s intention to retake the towns lost to Al-Shabaab. However, without this weaponry it seems Hizbul Islam had no other option left. After a short two day's negotiation, Hassan Dahir ‘Aweys’ appears to have accepted the inevitable and joined Al-Shabaab.

It remains to be seen how far the supporters of Sheikh ‘Aweys’ will accept this decision. Hizbul Islam is made up of four small factions and one of them, the Ras Kamboni militia, split earlier after its leader , Sheikh Hassan ‘Turki’ announced he was joining Al-Shabaab and most of its members left the organization. Al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam have few ideological differences and disagree largely over the distribution of resources. It was this which led to the fighting in Kismayo and the defeat of Hizbul Islam there.  The Burhakaba incident is another indicator of conflict between the two groups over resources. As we have indicated time and again the two groups share a similar determination to impose the same extremist versions of Sharia’a on the people of Somalia. Neither is prepared to become a partner for peace and national reconciliation in Somalia.

Fighting has continued in Mogadishu this week with AMISOM and the TFG forces killing a senior Al-Shabaab commander in engagements in Boondhere district, as AMISOM has continued its slow advance into districts previously held by Al-Shabaab. Al-Shabaab claimed victory in these clashes with AMISOM and the TFG forces; AMISOM convincingly refuted the claim. Al-Shabaab frequently tries to play the propaganda war when ever it has suffered any setback on the ground. On this occasion, according to some sources, Al-Shabaab deliberately fired a mortar into populated areas and then blamed AMISOM. It is not the first time it has carried out such action.

In another development, a bomb exploded on a bus in central Nairobi on Monday during a security search killing three and wounding 23 civilians. The vehicle was due to leave for the Ugandan capital Kampala. The atrocity was universally condemned in the strongest terms as a barbaric act. It was obviously carried out by terrorists bent on creating havoc and mayhem in the region. Uganda's police chief, Kale Kayihura, told AFP that this followed threats that had come from Al-Shabaab which had pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda and from a Ugandan Islamist group, the Allied Democratic Forces. Uganda suffered East Africa's worst terrorist attacks in a dozen years in July when suicide bombers struck two Kampala bars during the football World Cup final, killing 76 people. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the coordinated bomb attacks and warned that any country supporting the central Somali government that Al-Shabaab was fighting in Mogadishu would be a target