Somali Army Retreats From Strategic Town After Al-Shabaab Assault

ADAN YABAL, Somalia - The Somali National Army (SNA) forces were forced to retreat in the strategic Adan Yabaal village within Middle Shabelle, following intensive fighting on Wednesday, which directly affects operations in central and southern regions.

Adan Yabaal is one of the biggest military bases within the central regions, with the militants claiming to have seized the town, further boosting its strategic gains in the ongoing battles within central Somalia.

The retreat from Adan Yabaal comes after two years, when the Somali National Army and local fighters seized the town from the Al-Shabaab militants. The town is located about 220 kilometres north of Mogadishu, the Somali capital.

For two months, the Somali military, supported by local fighters, has been holding off two Al-Shabab offensives - launched from the southwest and north - from linking up in Middle Shabelle and Hiran regions.

Around February, the militants launched the offensives in an attempt to open a supply route either in Middle Shabelle or the neighbouring Hiran region. The attack in Hiran took place in Beera Yabaal twice in January and in February, where local fighters with government forces fended off the militants with high casualties.

The militants failed to open that route. More than a hundred people died in the two clashes, most of them militants, the Voice of America reported then.

After the failure in the Hiran region, the militants crossing from a makeshift bridge built near the village of Oobaale, turned east, passed north of the Mahaday district, and sent lots of fighters into the Middle Shabelle region.

Another al-Shabaab column passed through Yaaqle as Al-Shabaab entertained the AU and Somali forces in Bal’ad town with an attack, thought to have been a decoy, on February 26 this year.

The Al-Shabaab militants are increasingly facing offensives from the military with close supervision by the United States Army and the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia. The group has, however, waged some resistance in strategic areas.

GAROWE ONLINE