ATMIS says will continue countering Al-Shabaab in Somalia amid exit process

MOGADISHU, Somalia - The African Union Transition Mission in Somalia [ATMIS] maintains that it is committed towards countering Al-Shabaab militants who have been wreaking havoc in Somalia for the last two decades, revealing various military strategies put in place to defeat the group.

In a statement, ATMIS further acknowledges that it has invested in strengthening of the Somali National Army [SNA] which is set to assume security responsibilities from the peacekeepers in due course, once Somali Transition Plan [STP] is actualized.

On Tuesday, the ATMIS team under the Uganda People's Defense Forces [UPDF] conducted a joint patrol with the SNA troops, mainly targeting Improvised Explosive Devices [IEDs] planted along Beledamin-Quoryoley which connects Mogadishu and Kismayo, the regional administrative capital of Jubaland.

"Yesterday, ATMIS UPDF troops and SNA forces successfully conducted a joint patrol on the 14KM Beledamin-Quoryoley route, linking to the Mogadishu-Kismayu highway," ATMIS noted. "During the operation, ATMIS counter-IED team safely neutralised 2 IEDs. ATMIS remains committed to enhancing security, countering Al-Shabaab threats, and strengthening Somali Security Forces."

The exercise has been going on in HirShabelle and Galmadug states but the main military buildup is taking place in central Galmudug state where the government has deployed the largest number of federal troops.

Security experts say if the government gets its strategy right and succeeds to remove al-Shabaab from the entire Galmudug State, it will be a historic and the biggest military achievement since al-Shabaab was forces to retreat from Mogadishu in August 2011, following intervention by ATMIS.

However, the experts told VOA, should the government fail to get the strategy of annihilating Al-Shabaab, it will prove another huge underestimation of al-Shabaab’s strength and tactics, experts assess.

For now, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and many government officials are there in Galmudug, the commanders are there, the clan elders are there to mobilise their clansmen. There is a long way to go but the government has raised the bar, and the burden is on the government to deliver it, experts added.

The second phase of operations against the Al-Shabaab is likely to commence soon in Jubaland and Southwest states but before the activation, the government has diverted attention to combing HirShabelle and Galmadug states where the first phase of operations left over 3,000 Al-Shabaab militants dead.

GAROWE ONLINE