Somalia has year to eliminate al Shabaab militants - president

FILE PHOTO: Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud participates in a Peace, Security and Governance Forum during the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit 2022 in Washington, U.S., December 13, 2022. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/Pool/File Photo

LONDON (Reuters) - Somalia has one year to expel the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab militant group from the country, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said on Tuesday, with the deadline for remaining African Union peacekeepers to leave looming next December.

Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabaab has been waging a brutal insurgency against the Somali government since 2006 in a bid to establish its own rule based on a strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.