"If Ethiopia insists, Somalia will resist and will refuse," Mohamud told Reuters on Tuesday in an interview at the heavily fortified presidential palace in Mogadishu. Analysts and diplomats fear a withdrawal of Ethiopian troops would further destabilise Somalia, where al Shabaab attacks have killed thousands of civilians and soldiers since 2006. Somalia and several Western countries, including the United States, which regularly carries out strikes against militants in Somalia, have said Ethiopia's port deal has boosted al Shabaab's recruitment efforts. Ethiopian troops invaded Somalia in late 2006 to oust an Islamist movement from which al Shabaab originated. Mohamud said his government's estimates showed al Shabaab had recruited between 6,000 and 8,000 new fighters in January alone.
