Somalia: Jubaland releases second batch of captured SNA troops

RASKAMBONI, Somalia - The regional government of Jubaland has released the Somali National Army (SNA) troops who were captured during Wednesday's clashes at Raskamboni, signaling possible dialogue with the federal government, which was accused of trespass in the region.

The second group of Somali soldiers taken prisoner by Jubaland regional forces during Wednesday's battle in Raskamboni were flown back to Mogadishu on a private flight on Sunday. Over 600 soldiers surrendered to the Kenyan military at the border and they are now awaiting repatriation.

The SNA soldiers had been dispatched to the area following a standoff between Jubaland's President Ahmed Madobe and the Somali federal government over the Kismayo election last month.

At least 83 soldiers who had been taken prisoners were released and evacuated to Mogadishu, where they were deployed to fight the regional administration of Ahmed Islam Mohamed Madobe, the Jubbaland leader.

The soldiers, including elite Turkish-trained Gorgor and Haram'ad brigades, were transported to Mogadishu on two flights from Raskamboni, on Friday, multiple sources from Jubaland confirmed to Garowe Online.

"The dead were buried, wounded treated, and the captured returned to Mogadishu," said the soldiers.

Jubaland officials accused the FGS of deploying troops hundreds of miles away from Mogadishu for political gains while Al-Shabaab is outside the capital of Somalia. Madobe insists he is legitimately elected in Jubaland, asking the federal government to 'restrain' from acts of war.

Mohamud Fanah, the district commissioner of Badhadhe who sided with the federal government against Ahmed Madobe, along with 40 soldiers from the Somali National Army (SNA), crossed into Kenya following the loss of Raskamboni to Jubaland forces on Wednesday, Jubaland media reported.

Authorities in Kenya said 600 Somali National Army soldiers would be repatriated to Somalia after they surrendered in a Kenya Defence Forces Forward Operating Base within Lamu County in Kenya.

Meanwhile, Jubaland Vice President Mohamud Sayid Aden met Field Marshal Birhanu Jula, Ethiopia army chief of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces in Addis Ababa where they discussed ENDF support for Jubaland troops amid war with Somalia forces.

The meeting comes as Jubaland soldiers overpowered SNA in Raskamboni and expelled them from the area after heavy fighting on Wednesday that forced government soldiers and their commanders to surrender to KDF at the border.

GAROWE ONLINE