MOGADISHU, Somalia – Somali Federal Government forces are reportedly withdrawn from some of the areas recently recaptured from Al-Qaeda’s East Africa ally, Al-Shabaab.
The VOA Somali service said that the government forces have retreated from El Dheer, Masagaway, Budbud, and Galcad, all of which are part of the central Galgadud region.
The SNA troops also left Wabho [Wabxo] area on Monday, allowing the Al-Shabaab group to make an easy comeback to its previous stronghold.
No government has commented on the army retreat reports.
The commander of the 26th brigade of Ali Ibnu Abu-Talib, Major Ismail Abdimalik, who is in Elbur district, said that the Govt forces vacated the areas for “war strategy and tactic”.
Al-Shabaab continues to conduct attacks despite losing ground to SNA since last year. The latest raid targeted Cawsweyne [Osweine] in Galgadud this year, killing many soldiers.
This raises concerns about Govt’s ability to hold the areas it cleared and take more territory given the ongoing drawdown of the AU troops from Somalia after a 17-year operation.
In 2022, there was a 41 percent increase in al-Shabaab violence targeting Somali, AU military bases, and the capital, Mogadishu, where the UN-backed government is stationed.
The UN warns that 400,000 of the 6.6 million Somalis in need of aid are facing famine-like conditions, and 1.8 million children are at risk of acute malnutrition in 2023.
