In the wake of the Ethiopia-Somaliland Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on Monday Jan., 1, the Al-Shabaab terrorist group has issued a statement, threatening both Ethiopia and Somaliland.

Ali Mohamud Rage (aka Ali Dheere), the group’s spokesman from the Hawiye clan, called for jihad attacks on Ethiopia and the Muse Bihi administration in Somaliland, a peaceful region in the north of the country that declared its independence in 1991.

“I call the brothers in East Africa, and particularly in the Islamic nation of Somalia to take up arms and fight,” declared Ali Dheere.

On Tuesday, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who also hails from the Hawiye, referenced the Al-Shabaab statement during his address to a Joint session of the Somali federal parliament in Mogadishu.

He erroneously linked former Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s intervention in Somalia in 2066 to the rise of Al-Shabaab.

“Abiy Ahmed Ali’s move is creating another opportunity for Al-Shabaab to recruit,” warned Hassan Sheikh, expressing concern about potential armed resistance.

The events unfolded further on Wednesday as Mogadishu Mayor Yusuf Jimale Madale, a known member of the Muslim Brotherhood group, organized a protest in the capital.

Local residents, including government supporters, participated in the protest, which featured speeches condemning and threatening Ethiopia.

Participants openly vowed to attack Ethiopian and Somaliland officials, labeling Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi as “a traitor” for signing the agreement with the Ethiopian prime minister.