The Face of Change in Somalia?

This week, hundreds of Somalis -- mostly women and children -- marched through the streets of Mogadishu protesting against Al-Shabaab militants. The protesters, along with traditional warriors wearing white clothes and armed with spears and wooden shields, chanted slogans denouncing the al Qaeda-inspired group. It was only the second public national demonstration against Al-Shabaab, which controls much of southern Somalia. It came a few days after the militant group destroyed tombs of revered Sufi clerics.

“People were really disturbed by the move of Al-Shabaab to destroy the tombs of the revered sheikhs of Ahlu Sunna,” said one civilian spokesperson. Observers noted that the protesters shouted slogans of support for the U.N.-backed government.

“We call for a holy war against them,” said Sheikh Abdulkadir Somow, from the Sufi Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jama group, which recently signed a deal with the government in neighboring Ethiopia. Some of the demonstrators carried posters with slogans such as “Down and defeat to Al-Shabaab,” observers said. They also carried slogans to support the transitional government such as “Support Peace and Government.”

As one observer commented, “perhaps real change in Somalia will come from these protesters -- women and children who are determined to make a difference in this world.”