Somali Army kills 49 al-Shabaab terrorists

MOGADISHU, Somalia

Somali government on Wednesday announced that the country’s National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) backed by Somalia’s international partners have conducted an operation against the al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group al-Shabaab, killing more than 49 terrorists.

The operation was targeted al-Shabaab terror group who were planning conspiracies to hurt the Somali people in the village of Bulo-Madino, in Lower Shabelle region, said Somali Information Ministry in a statement it issued Wednesday evening after the operation.

The Ministry said the operation destroyed all the terrorist military equipment in the village.

According to officials in the Lower Shabelle region who spoke to Anadolu Agency over the phone said an airstrikes was involved in the operation but didn’t disclose which country helped them from the air during the operation.

Abdi Isack, an independent security analyst based in the capital Mogadishu who spoke to Anadolu Agency via phone said the operation show how the current government is committed to combating the terrorist group al-Shabaab.

“ I believe the government is committed to end al-Shabaab once for all but recent operations in the central regions show a little bit of unpreparedness in terms of logistics”, he said.

Somalia's army killed more than 600 Al-Shabaab fighters and 1,200 wounded in operations, said the Somali Prime Minister in his first one hundred days in the office.

He also said the army have liberated over 68 areas in the south and central parts of the Horn of African country.

Somalia has been plagued by insecurity for years, with al-Shabaab being one of the main threats in the Horn of Africa country.

Since at least 2007, al-Shabaab has waged a deadly campaign against the Somali government and international forces that has claimed thousands of lives.

The UN has also warned of growing instability in the country, with its periodic reports on Somalia this year detailing attacks by al-Shabaab and pro-Daesh/ISIS groups.

There were at least 1,518 civilian casualties – 651 killed and 867 injured – in terrorist attacks in Somalia in 2018, followed by 1,459 – 591 killed and 868 injured – in 2019, according to UN in Somalia.