Senior Al-Shabaab leader killed by Somali security forces in Bariire-Government
A senior Al-Shabaab figure was killed by Somali security forces in a raid Friday in Bariire, the government has said but did not indicate if the raid involved US forces whom one of their seals was killed by Al-Shabaab.
In a statement Sunday, Information Minister Abdirahman Yarisow said the security forces neutralized Moalin Osman Abdi Badil, the leader of Al-Shabaab in Lower Shabelle. Also killed were three of his associates.
“The Somalia National Security Forces killed Lower Shabelle al Shabaab leader Moalin Osman Abdi Badil and three of his associates in a raid in the village of Bariire near Daarasalaam,” the government said adding the forces conducted the raid May 5th.
The minister said the death of Badil ‘significantly disrupts the terrorist group’s ability to operate in Lower Shabelle, which is a major step towards peace in the region’ and that the operation was a turning point’ in the government’s fight against the Al-Shabaab.
A US navy seal, Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator Kyle Milliken was killed Friday in clash with Al-Shabaab in Bariire area during a joint operation with Somali forces. The death is reported to be the first since US forces left Somalia in 1993 during the Black Hawk Down debacle which saw the killing of 18 US forces in Mogadishu.
The minister warned Al-Shabaab to leave the group noting ‘the Somalia National Security Forces are bringing the fight to your doorstep, with the help of Somalia’s partners’.