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Puntland authorities are on full alert following reports that al-Shabaab, on the run in western and southern Somalia, is attempting to regroup in Puntland, government officials said.

Officials blame the al-Qaeda-affiliated group for the assassination of Dr. Ahmed Haji Abdirahman, a prominent Islamic scholar in Somalia, last month. Following the murder, many religious scholars, clan leaders and government officials have spoken out against al-Shabaab's extremist doctrine.

In a January 8th speech marking his third year in office, President Abdirahman Sheikh Mohamed Faroole blamed "foreigners invading Somalia" for the war and extremism engulfing Somalia. He lashed out at Ahmed Abdi Godane, the al-Shabaab spiritual leader in Somalia, for being their proxy. Godane has attempted to rein over Somalia by "murdering the knowledgeable and arming the thugs", the same thugs that killed Abdirahman last month, said Faroole.

Abdirahman was shot seven times by gunmen in Bossaso on December 5th as he was leaving a mosque near his home after the morning prayers.

Faroole said al-Shabaab leaders are bribing, exploiting and brainwashing the most vulnerable youths to commit murder. However, now that militants are facing battles on four fronts -- from Kenyan forces in the west, the African Union Mission in Somalia in the south, the Transitional Federal Government in Mogadishu and Puntland forces in central Somalia -- al-Shabaab fighters will not be able to hide, he said.

Intelligence reports indicate some al-Shabaab elements might be headed to Puntland to reorganise, he added. "They [al-Shabaab fighters], accompanied by their wives, intend to sneak back in disguise into areas they had been cleared out of," the president said. "I have placed security forces on high alert and we will arrest them," he added.

In his speech, Faroole revisited the successful military operations his administration has waged against al-Shabaab, including operations centred on stepped-up security measures in Puntland's major cities that resulted in the 2010 capture of some al-Shabaab bases and insurgents of various nationalities.

Despite the successes, Faroole acknowledged that Puntland still faces major security challenges that have been building over the past ten years. To that end, he urged citizens, particularly in Bossaso, to work closely with authorities and report all suspicious activities.

The president said al-Shabaab is a menace that targets mothers and children by offering to enrol children in free religious schools, but instead sends them "to a place of no return" once they are under al-Shabaab's tutelage.

Minister of Security Khalif Isse Mudan, who also spoke at the third-year anniversary of the Faroole administration, said the Puntland government has invested many of its resources in the security of the state.

"The government invested heavily in security and succeeded in imprisoning the assassins of Dr. Ahmed H. Abdirahman. Now, there is a sweeping campaign against al-Shabaab with Islamic scholars actively engaged in public-awareness lectures throughout Bossaso, informing the public about the detriments of al-Shabaab", Mudan said.

Religious scholars held a three-day conference that ended on January 7th, to discuss the state of security in Puntland and organise their response at the al-Rawda Mosque in Bossaso. Conference participants unanimously held the group responsible for killing innocent people and warned the general public against the "al-Shabaab doctrine".

Sheikh Ahmed Abdisamad, a Puntland scholar who spoke at the conference, said an al-Shabaab subgroup called "Amniyad" has been specifically trained to instil fear in citizens. The only way to defeat such a menace is "to forge a unified front, comprised of both government and civilians", he said.

Clan elders have also joined religious leaders and community activists in the public-awareness campaign against al-Shabaab.

Leelkase, a Darood sub-clan prominent in Mudug, convened last month in the town of Galdogob to discuss security in the region. The clan issued a statement condemning al-Shabaab's assassination of Abdirahman and publicly joined forces with the government and others to defeat the group.

Ahmed Harti, a clan in the Bari region, issued a similar statement this month, voicing support for the war against al-Shabaab and any other terrorist organisation. The statement expressed support for the security of the State of Puntland and for refocused efforts to pull misguided youths out of al-Shabaab.