SNA and AMISOM to recapture remaining Al-Shabab controlled towns

Commanders of Somali National Army (SNA) vowed that they would move ahead to flush Al-Shabab fighters out in Bakool region.

One the commanders leading the soldiers in frontline, Cornel Abaaba said that SNA and AMISON troops are preparing to advance to the rebel held town of Baardhere.

he said troops in Diinsoor, together with African peacekeepers are in their final preparation to launch an attack on the other towns which are held by Alshabab insurgents.

“We move quickly to those areas, we will eliminate Alshabab from wherever they are” said the colonel.

Somali government and African Union peacekeeping troops captured two towns from al Shabaab after its fighters had left the towns without fight.
Al-Shabab has been weakened as a military and political force since being driven out of the Somali capital Mogadishu by African Union forces.

Since then, the group has lost several other important towns including Barawe, Kismayu and Bardhere which it relied on, as a source of revenue and supplies.

Facing the new multi-pronged offensive, Al-Shabab seems to be playing a u-turn military tactic in Bay region as fighters from the Al-Qaeda linked group have recaptured a string of towns previously lost to the allied forces.

However, the group claimed it recaptured at least eleven towns and villages for the past few days in the backdrop of their latest losses.

The Al-Shabab, meaning “youth” in Arabic, emerged out of a bitter insurgency against Ethiopia, whose troops entered Somalia in 2006 in a US-backed invasion to topple the Islamic Courts Union that was then controlling the capital Mogadishu.

Al-Shabab fighters continue to stage frequent attacks, seeking to counter claims that they are close to defeat after losing territory in the face of repeated African Union and Somali government offensives, regular US drone strikes against their leaders and defections.

Meanwhile, Security experts said that the new military operation led by AU forces is seen as a response to the Al-Shabaab’s recent deadly attack on an African Union military base in which dozens of soldiers were killed.