Tuesday May 2, 2023
FILE - Somali soldiers patrol in convoy near Sanguuni military base on June 13, 2018. MOHAMED ABDIWAHAB / AFP |
Mogadishu (HOL) - The Somali National Army carried out a planned operation on Tuesday morning in the Ali-Qabobe area, approximately 30 km south of the town of Harardhere in the Mudug region, resulting in the deaths of at least 60 al-Shabaab militants.
According to Harardhere District Commissioner Mohamed Yusuf Kulmiye, the military forces received information about a car carrying weapons and armed militants in the village, prompting the operation. During the operation, 60 militants were killed, and the military seized their weapons and two vehicles. There has been no immediate comment from al-Shabaab.
In January, the Somali National Army (SNA) captured the strategic town of Harardhere in the Mudug region, which had been under al-Shabaab control for over a decade. Since the start of the offensive last summer in Hirshabelle, South West, and Galmudug states, government forces have pushed back the Al Qaeda-linked militant insurgents from dozens of population centres with the support of local clan militia forces.
The country's intelligence and security agency reported that two weeks ago, more than 20 al-Shabaab terrorists, including "ringleaders," were killed in a security operation in the Lower Shabelle region of Somalia. The operation was carried out with the support of Somalia's international security partners, according to a statement from the agency.