AFGOYE, Somalia – The governor of the Lower Shabelle region Mohamed Ibrahim Barre gave further details about a military operation in Kuntuwarey, a main Al-Shabaab base.
Barre confirmed that the Somali army with the support of foreign allies targeted Al-Shabaab militants in their hideouts. As many as 7 fighters, including leaders were killed.
The town of Kuntuwaarey, in the southwest of Somalia, is located 208 kilometers from the capital, Mogadishu. It has been for many years been under the full control of Al-Shabaab.
At least four other militants were wounded in the planned operation, which comes as the U.S. and AU forces in Somalia are stepping up their role in the current war on Al-Shabaab.
Last month, a U.S. airstrike killed three al-Shabab extremists in a remote area of Somalia, approximately 35 kilometers (22 miles) northeast of Kismayo, a port city in Jubaland state.
Somali forces supported by local clan fighters have been conducting operations in the Hirshabelle and Galmudug states since August 2022, freeing dozens of localities from al-Shabab.
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud repeated his government’s promise of a second phase of the offensive that will go after al-Shabab in southern Somalia, the group’s traditional heartland, but he did not say when that would begin.
