MOGADISHU, Sept 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Somalia’s military says an offensive in the central Hiran region has captured 20 villages that were occupied by the militant group al-Shabaab.
A Somali National Army commander, Captain Mohamed Ibrahim Daud, tsaid that army troops backed by armed locals have killed more than 100 al-Shabaab fighters and also “liberated” 20 villages from the al-Qaida-affiliated group.
He said the retaken villages include several key locations in Hiran region, including the small town of Fidow near Somalia’s border with Ethiopia.
Daud said troops captured another 20 militants alive.
He acknowledged that the army received air support during the operations, without naming a country.
In a statement issued Sunday night, Somali Information Ministry said the operations were the first step in implementing the government’s vision of fighting terrorism and getting rid of al-Shabaab “all over the country.”
“The Somali government is committed to remove al-Shabaab as a threat to the Somali people,” the statement said.
Abdulkarim Abdulle, a Mogadishu-based independent security analyst, said that local militias are determined to work with the security forces to eliminate al-Shabaab in the regions.
He said the Macwisley — referring to local militia — is something that Somali government encouraged in the population, and they decided to liberate themselves from al-Shabaab. Without them, Abdulle said, the operations could not succeed.
Al-Shabaab did not comment on the government’s claims, but said it carried out a series of bomb attacks in the Hiran region targeting Somali security forces.
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud declared a “total war” against al-Shabaab in August 2022, after the group staged a deadly hotel siege in the capital Mogadishu that killed 21 people and wounded more than 100 others. — NNN-AGENCIES
