Fighters of the Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram have been trained in Somalia, before returning to West Africa, Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has said.
Speaking at a security conference in Germany on Sunday, Sheikh Mohamud said there are proofs and evidence to show that for some time, the Nigeria militants have been trained on Africa’s eastern coast.
President Mohamud warned that without a stable Somalia, much of Africa will remain unstable. It was not clear though from his comments, whether he believed Al-Shabaab militia was still training Boko Haram fighters, who have pledged allegiance to ISIL militants in Syria and Iraq.
Somalia’s al Shabaab, which has links to al Qaeda and wants to overthrow the Somali government and impose a harsh version of Islamic law, claimed responsibility for a blast this month that punched a hole in the fuselage of a plane.
Somalia, plagued by political in-fighting and attacks by al Shabaab insurgents, has recently made limited progress towards creating a functioning political system, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said.
