Combatants’ families at al-Shabaab’s mercy
KILIFI: As Kenya intensifies the war against terrorism, relatives of suspected al-Shabaab militants are enduring stigma, threats and blackmail from combatants on both sides of the battle.
Speaking during a recent forum in Kilifi, female relatives of terror suspects narrated how they have become unwitting victims of a complex fight between the militants and security forces.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, they revealed the harrowing details of what they have undergone either as victims of terrorism or as targets for interrogation by security personnel
Fatihiya (not her real name) only learnt about her son’s involvement in the terror group al-Shabaab when he was injured during a raid by African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) troops.
She had suspected that her son, who had disappeared without notice, might have been recruited by the al-Qaeda-linked militant group, but when the news came, Fatihiya was still devastated.
“As a mother, when I was lured to a nondescript place at the mention of the condition of my son, I readily obliged. Little did I know that it would be the beginning of this traumatic experience dealing with the members of a dreaded militant group,” she said.
“I was put in a very difficult position because al-Shabaab still had my injured son and kept threatening me that if I did not do their bidding they’d kill my son. They said he’s useless to them because of the injuries.”
Fatihiya is now deeply entangled in al-Shabaab’s affairs, alhough not as a fighter or suicide bomber.
She has been running errands for the terror network and occasionally met her son in an undisclosed location to evade surveillance by security forces.
“The al-Shabaab militants are heartless and use very crude means to get supplies like drugs to their camp. They are aware that my son is so dear to me and because of that I would go to whatever length to ensure that he is not killed.
“They are just using me and my son as an excuse. The mode of transporting drugs – both medicinal and hard drugs – is the most painful exercise and even more dangerous.”
She decried the degrading treatment she always undergoes while delivering the consignment of drugs in the al-Shabaab hideouts. “It is so dehumanising,” Fatihiya said, adding that she was stripped naked to get the drugs stashed into her private parts for safe delivery.
She had reported the disappearance of her son to Kenyan authorities, but no positive response has been forthcoming.
Likewise, many rights campaigners had failed to respond to her pleas for help, merely parading her before donors which exacerbated her vulnerability, said Fatihiya.
She has not cut off contacts with security personnel and rights groups and accepted the tragic reality of her son not escaping from the snares of a vicious terrorist network.
A female trauma counsellor, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said female relatives of terror suspects generally don’t share their traumatic experiences with loved ones or friends. She noted Fatihiya represents a growing number of women who have been forced by circumstances to co-operate with al-Shabaab because their husbands, sons or brothers have joined the militant group as combatants.
Such women, the expert said, run errands for al-Shabaab including spying and smuggling supplies and weapons into their base in order to safeguard the lives and wellbeing of their relatives.
Some of these women have sought help from state security agencies and rights groups but their pleas often go unanswered. Consequently, they become increasingly hopeless, scared and traumatised.
They live at the mercy of the rebel group that watches their every move,” said the therapist.