VOA: Interview with Yan St-Pierre – Analysts See Long Fight Ahead Against Al-Shabab

March 08, 2016

VOA’s news reporter in Nairobi, Mohammed Yusuf, asked Yan St-Pierre for his insight on the U.S. airstrike against al-Shabab in Somalia that killed 150 people: “Analysts See Long Fight Ahead Against Al-Shabab“.

Analyst Yan St-Pierre, who runs the Berlin-based security firm MOSECON, said the opportunity for such a large strike may not come again. “Usually, al-Shabab, historically speaking, they have always spread [their] troops very well, so if this was indeed the case [that] they had so many people in one location, it’s a strategic mistake that definitely they are bound not to repeat,” St-Pierre said.

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Analyst St-Pierre said airstrikes won’t necessarily ease that pressure on ground troops. “Any American or Western support will be from the air, so they (al-Shabab) adjust their strategies accordingly while maintaining focus on the local troops. The real message really needs to come from AMISOM. It needs to come from the Kenya Defense Forces and Somali troops much more than the Americans,” St-Pierre said.

To read the full article, please refer to the link above.

For a version in Portuguese, please look here: “Somália: Ataque aéreo americano elimina 150 militantes do Al-Shabab“.