• + Comment now
• Print
• Email
• Tweet
• Reset

Forces from the Somali government and the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) managed to take control of the last key positions from al-Shabaab in Mogadishu on Friday (January 20th) in the most extensive and aggressive attack in months.

Government and AMISOM forces staged a massive attack with tanks and armoured vehicles in the northern and western suburbs of Yaaqshiid and Dayniile, which were under al-Shabaab's control.

Military officials told Sabahi that the joint forces have made large advances in their efforts to neutralise extremists affiliated with al-Qaeda, and that al-Shabaab is in a state of extreme weakness and debility.

"Government forces and AMISOM succeeded in cleansing the capital of extremist rebels, as they were driven out of the capital," said Gen. Abdullah Ali Annoud, who leads military operations against al-Shabaab. Al-Shabaab fighters had been hiding in small pockets in north-western Mogadishu, their last areas of control in the capital before the military operation.

Annoud told Sabahi that government and AMISOM forces took complete control of the Barakaat Cemetery region and Mogadishu University campus. He said rebels suffered heavy losses. "Remnants of terrorists hiding in a couple of pockets in the northern outskirts of the capital tried to stage desperate counter attacks, but they were defeated by the government and AMISOM forces," he said, adding that no fewer than 22 al-Shabaab operatives were killed.

Annoud said Transitional Federal Government forces will continue their operations until al-Shabaab is completely overcome. "These military operations will not end after seizing the al-Shabaab bases in northern Mogadishu; we will continue fighting until the very last extremist is defeated," he said.

AMISOM spokesperson Paddy Ankuda said, "This was the first time that our forces arrived in a location outside the capital to defend the city from the outside. Our forces were able to control strategic bases outside the capital that had been previously under the grip of al-Shabaab extremists."

AMISOM forces have been deployed in Mogadishu since 2007.

Eyewitnesses said al-Shabaab fighters have started to evacuate small pockets located on the outskirts of the city, specifically in the Huriwa area, north of Mogadishu.

Hassan Abdul Rahman, a resident of Huriwa, said al-Shabaab fighters have started fleeing the area and heading toward Balad, 30 kilometres north Mogadishu.

Ahmed Shiire, a resident of Dayniile, which had been a major stronghold for al-Shabaab, told Sabahi that al-Shabaab fighters abandoned their positions in the area and headed toward Eilasha, 20 kilometres west of Mogadishu.

Al-Shabaab spokesperson Ali Mohamud Rage, said his fighters retreated from their positions in Yaaqshiid and Dayniile due to a "change in tactics and strategy", but that al-Shabaab fighters are preparing to launch a counter-attack to regain areas they lost during the latest offensive.

On Saturday, Rage announced the death of Bilal al-Barjawi, a senior foreign commander of Lebanese descent who joined the group in 2006. Al-Barjawi, known as Abu Hafsa, was a close associate of Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, al-Qaeda's leader in East Africa who was killed in June 2011 at a security checkpoint.

Somali president Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed praised the military successes of the Somali and AMISOM forces. "The military victories achieved by the national Somali army and AMISOM can be considered an extremely important accomplishment and a victory for the Somali people," he said in a statement.

"I congratulate the men and women of the army, police and intelligence forces and our brethren, members of AMISOM, who put their lives on the line to liberate the Somali people from the tyranny of extremists," he said, adding that the recent victory is an important step toward regaining peace and stability in the country.

The president called on the Somali nation to support the armed forces and to take part in peace-building efforts and reconstruction throughout the country.