Escalation in ground fighting drives Al-Shabaab out of key areas

Somali president Hassan Sheikh declared last month an all-out war against Al-Shabaab following a deadly Mogadishu hotel attack.

News Keydmedia Online
16 October 2022

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Troops from the Somali military, with the help of the local people, have taken over several villages from the Al-Shabaab, in the latest territorial gain in an ongoing offensive.

Sunday's operation was carried out outside the Bal'ad district, 30Kms north of Mogadishu, where the forces seized control of Yaaqle, Mukadheere, Dhabacow, Koorabe, Shanlow, and Farbaraki

A former military colonel, who turned MP Osman Hadole was leading the assault that led to the liberation of strategic areas long used by Al-Shabaab for plotting attacks in the capital.

Hadole rose to fame during an army revolt that prevented the attempted illegal extension by former president Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo in April 2021 which sparked a street battle in Mogadishu.

The government troops beefed security on the outskirts of Mogadishu as it struggles to win the war against Al-Shabaab after recording a historic victory on the battlefields in central regions.

On Saturday, Somali forces captured the Hawadley town near Balcad district, in the Middle Shabelle region, where Al-Shabaab used to transport supplies to its fighters battling in the Hiran region.

Somali president Hassan Sheikh declared last month an all-out war against Al-Shabaab following a deadly Mogadishu hotel attack. The militants were driven out of the capital in 2011.

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