African Union forces highlight successes against Al-Shabaab in Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia - The Somalia-based Al-Shabaab militants have lost considerable territories in central and southern Somalia, the African Union Mission in Somalia said on Thursday, pointing at the recent achievements in Lower Shebelle.

The African Union forces have been launching sophisticated operations against the Al-Shabaab with the help of Somali National Army [SNA], leading to liberation of several strategic towns within the Horn of Africa nation in recent months.

In his address to the United Nations Security Council, AMISOM chief Francisco Madeira singled out the recent operation at Janaale, an agricultural-rich town in Lower Shebelle, as one of the most satisfactory crackdown against the militants.

Dubbed operation BADBAADO, Madeira said, the onslaught mainly waged by SNA and AMISOM troops degraded and disrupted Al-Shabaab's operational capabilities in Somalia and surrounding nations, there they had poised threats.

Janaale town was one of the highest revenue generation center for the Al-Shabaab before it fell to government troops and allied forces on March 16. Since then, SNA has been helping to establish a functional civilian administration.

“The recovery of Janaale represents a serious blow to the Al-Shabaab, as the town was a strategic stronghold for the group’s operations in Lower Shabelle and Mogadishu,” said the Mozambique national, who has been representing the AU commission.

During the operation, Gen. Abdihamid Mohamed told reporters, close to 140 Al-Shabaab militants died, 28 badly wounded and at least 18 captured. Those captured were mainly intelligence militants who had been spying on government troops, he said.

Prime Minister Hassan Ali Kheire had termed the capture of Janaale as "the most significant progress for our forces", adding that "we are grateful to the African Union forces for their unending love to the Somali people".

Janaale was also a hub for manufacturing VBIEDs and IEDs. Beyond Janale, targeted operations by AMISOM and Somali security forces in Bula Xaaji on 20th March destroyed enemy positions and considerably reduced the group’s capabilities, Madeira noted.

The successes at Lower Shebelle, the Al-Shabaab's main operation center, he added, was possible because of the generation of a professional Somali national force that relieved AMISOM forces to other areas where they created mobile units that have made a difference.

To this effect, he stressed the need for more support by the United Nations and other international partners to ensure rapid and consistent force generation so that Somalia will have an able national force that can take over from AMISOM come 2021, in line with the Somalia Transition Plan.

The AMISOM force is estimated to be around 20,000 following the strategic withdrawal of 1,000 in March under the Somali Transition Plan. SNA troops are expected to take over security responsibilities in the war-torn nation after the exit of AU forces.

Some of the force contributing nations include Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya and Ethiopia. Currently, the force operates under the stewardship of Lt. Gen Tigabu Yilma, an Ethiopian national who took over in 2018.

However, Ambassador Madeira warned that if the process of generating sufficient, well trained, well equipped and regularly paid Somali security forces does not speed up, the country may not, by the end of 2021, be able to achieve the goal of producing a critical mass of Somali forces capable of taking over from AMISOM, hold and preserve the gains accumulated over the years.

Al-Shabaab has continued to lose ground in Somalia also partly due to ending US military airstrikes, which often targets their hideouts. Since January, the US Africa Command has launched close to 40 airstrikes, killing at least 60 militants.

Some of Al-Shabaab bigwigs to die as a result of the airstrikes include Bashir Qorgab, who is said to have engineered the Manda Airfield attack in Kenya early this year and Yusuf Jiis, another Al-Shabaab Amniyat commander who died in Bush Madina.

GAROWE ONLINE