MOGADISHU, Somalia – The Somali government forces along with local clan militia known as Ma’wisley have killed Al-Shabaab members in the east of the Galgaduud region.
In the operation, the allied troops targeted Al-Shabaab centers in the area of El Hassan Ali, which is south of Budbud City, and killed six members of the Al-Shabaab group.
“The army was able to circle the Al-Shabaab positions before engaging in a battle which inflicted heavy losses on the militants and seized weapons,” said a Somali military official.
The officers who led the latest operation in central Somalia vowed they would continue the efforts aimed at liberating the remaining areas from Al-Shabaab, an Al-Qaeda affiliate.
In an effort to finally push al-Shabaab completely out of central Somalia, on 6 August, the federal government announced the start of the ‘first phase’ of the counter-insurgency campaign in Hirshabelle and Galmudug states.
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud relocated the command center of the counter-insurgency campaign from Mogadishu to Dhuusamareeb, Galmudug’s regional capital.
Through this decision, Mohamud expects to enhance the coordination of security forces and rally support of the clan militias who played a major role in the liberation of swathes of territory.
However, concerns remain about Somalia’s ability to hold the areas it has cleared and take more territory given the planned drawdown of foreign troops and the fact that southern clans have not shown the same propensity to turn on al-Shabaab.
