...... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...members on Saturday morning after tried to attack their positions in the Bay region.
The battle took place in Makude area, which is about 7 KM south of Baidoa City, the capital of the Bay region and the current administrative headquarters of Southwest State.
The army displayed the bodies of the turbans who carried out the attack, according to statements and photos disseminated on the telegram channel of the Somali state media.
The government said that the army succeeded in killing all the al-Shabaab fighters who attacked the army camp in Makude. There was no independent verification of the claims.
The attack came after al-Shabaab recently carried out heavy attacks in the areas of Ruunirgood and Dara Nicmo, HirShabelle, where they killed SNA forces and vigilantes.
The government was blamed for being slow to fight al-Shabaab, which has caused al-Shabaab to regroup and attack or occupy the areas they were previously expelled from.
| Garowe adds: |
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has announced the second phase of the al-Shabaab
...... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...crackdown which will target the bully boyz in areas that are yet to be redeemed from the group, particularly in central and southern parts of the country where al-Shabaab bully boyz are predominant.
SNA forces alongside clan militia have captured several towns and villages in Galgadud, Mudug, Middle Shabelle, and Hiiraan regions in the last seven months and the fortunes are set to increase with an impending crackdown which will continue for months until the time SNA will take security responsibilities.
The Somali Transition Plan [STP] projects that the local forces will be in charge of security in the next year when the African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
Transition Mission in Somalia [ATMIS] team will be leaving. There are also close to 500 US Africa Command soldiers stationed in the country.
Recently, the Somali government announced that al-Shabaab revenue had dwindled by half from $120 million [according to reports by US] but the officials did not mention the exact figure. The US recently announced that the group's revenue increased to $120 million from $100 million.