Al-Shabaab explosions leave over 30 dead in central Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Three separate Al-Shabaab explosions left at least 30 people dead in the federal republic of Somalia, police said, with the attackers said to have targeted innocent civilians as the country continues with the offensive against the team which controls huge swathes of rural central and southern Somalia.

For the last six months, the country has been fighting the militants with unrelenting zeal, with the Somalia National Army [SNA] getting a major boost from the US Africa Command, the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia [ATMIS] and the local militia who have taken weapons against the group.

Police said the first two explosions took place at Jalalaqsi leaving at least 12 people dead and at least 11 others fatally injured. The explosions came in quick succession as a suicide car bomb detonated while making an entry into a crucial checkpoint within the sparingly populated town.

The third blast, police said, took place at Bulo-Burde, a town that has been exchanging hands between the security forces and the Al-Shabaab militants. For the last six months, the local security teams have liberated the town a couple of times only to lose it again to the determined militants.

Police said the explosion at Bulo-Burde left at least 18 people dead and 24 others critically wounded. The Al-Shabaab militants are losing strategic towns to security forces according to reports by the US Africa Command, which has been playing a key role in assisting the local forces to overcome the militants.

The Jalalaqsi explosion targeted a checkpoint which is near the station of Djiboutian troops serving in the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia [ATMIS]. It is not a surprise for the militants to often target military Forward Operating Bases across the country in their cowardly attacks.

Al-Shabaab has in return reverted to abduction and spontaneous attacks as retaliation to sustained military operations in central and southern Somalia. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud recently revealed that the local forces could completely take charge of the Galmadug and HirShabelle states.

On Saturday, President Hassan Sheikh hosted a meeting in Villa Somalia with some of the foreign diplomats based in Mogadishu. The presidency said the current war, SNA's taking over security responsibility from ATMIS, completing the constitution, debt relief, and federalism in Somalia were discussed.

The international community has been keen to boost local governance as a way of effectively handling Al-Shabaab which threatens to overthrow the fragile UN-backed federal government of Somalia. Al-Shabaab militants also had over 250 banks and 70 mobile money transfer firms closed following an operation by the government.

GAROWE ONLINE