Somalia: Did SNA lose to Al-Shabaab in Osweine battle?

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Hours after a fierce battle between the Al-Shabaab militants and the Somali National Army [SNA] in Osweine village [Cawsweyne], questions are emerging on the aftermath, with either side claiming victory, just as the country intensifies the war against Al-Shabaab.

On Saturday, without giving finer details, state media confirmed that the national army had repulsed an Al-Shabaab attack in Osweine village, where the militants were planning to activate a "large scale" assault on the locals. The local community had shared intelligence with security forces, state media reported.

The attack came as the military was preparing large-scale attacks against the Al-Shabaab in central Somalia, as the government intensified efforts to liberate remaining strategic towns after the conclusion of the first phase of operations against the Al-Qaeda-linked group.

But in a lengthy statement, former President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed raised doubts about the operation in Osweine, calling for independent investigations on how the attack by the Al-Shabaab was handled in the town, arguing that many soldiers may have died in the process.

The situation in Cawsweyne is still not clear 24 hours after the deadly al-Shabaab raid, Voice of America reports. The Al-Shabaab militants had claimed victory in the operation within the village, but there were no independent reports to affirm the claim.

Based on the magnitude of the attack, it appears Al-Shabaab prepared the attack even before Cawsweyne was captured on Tuesday. It was a large-scale attack, highly unlikely it was planned after Tuesday, analysts say, in what could raise questions about Somalia's preparedness in the Al-Shabaab war.

For the last couple of weeks, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has been in Dhusamareb for weeks now overseeing and mobilizing. The president insisted that the troops along with the US Africa Command and the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia [ATMIS] are ready to tackle the militants.

While it is not clear whether the national army lost to Al-Shabaab, the militants have been waging complex retaliatory attacks targeting innocent civilians and security forces across the country and beyond the borders. The government is plotting a second phase of operations against the group.

GAROWE ONLINE