- Sputnik International, 1920
Africa
Get the latest Africa news from Sputnik: breaking news, photos, videos, analysis, and features.

Multiple Deaths as Al-Shabaab Attacks Somali Army Base After Government Captures Port

© AP Photo / Farah Abdi WarsamehSecurity forces patrol at the scene, after gunmen stormed the Hayat Hotel in the capital Mogadishu, Somalia on Aug. 21, 2022
Security forces patrol at the scene, after gunmen stormed the Hayat Hotel in the capital Mogadishu, Somalia on Aug. 21, 2022 - Sputnik International, 1920, 17.01.2023
Subscribe
The Somalian Armed Forces took control of the strategically significant port city of Harardere on Monday, which was formerly held by the Al-Shabaab terrorist organization*.
An attack on a military camp in Hawadley town in the Middle Shabelle region of Somalia resulted in 26 fatalities and numerous injuries on Tuesday, media has reported.
Five government soldiers and 21 militants from the al-Shabaab group are among the deceased after a suicide bomber assaulted the base. Earlier on Tuesday, the army and terrorists engaged in combat, which was accompanied by loud gunshots and explosions.
According to local reports, army chief Odowaa Yusuf Rage said five soldiers, including a senior officer, "died as martyrs" in the attack.
The attack took place just days after the army overran the important port of Haradhere, which the jihadist group had held for fifteen years.
Al-Shabaab has lost sizable portions of its territory since August of last year, when government forces supported by clan militia launched an operation in southern and central Somalia.
However, the group has continued to launch attacks, primarily against African Union forces and government structures. It carried out four lethal bombings in Hiram's center during the course of the previous week.
Also last week, US Ambassador Larry Andre, Somali Minister of Defense Abdulkadir Mohamud Nur, and Somali National Army Chief Brigadier General Odowaa Yusuf Rage reportedly announced that weapons, vehicles, medical supplies and other equipment had been donated to the Somali Army, all of which is estimated to be worth approximately $9 million.
In addition to heavy weapons, the United States provided construction and bomb disposal equipment.
Earlier, Somali officials declared that Al-Shabaab jihadists were seeking negotiations amid mass offensives against them by the government. According to the country's deputy defense minister, talks are only possible with Somali militants but not with foreigners.
An Islamist militant group with ties to the terrorist organization al-Qaeda*, Al-Shabaab has been organizing attacks against the federal government of Somalia for a long time in an effort to establish a strict interpretation of Sharia law there.
In this file photo of Thursday Oct.21, 2010, Al-Shabaab fighters display weapons as they conduct military exercises in northern Mogadishu, Somalia. The new al-Shabab video, called “The Path to Paradise,” promises more in a series spotlighting recruits from Minnesota who abandoned the comforts of home in order to wage jihad against foreign troops in Somalia. The video, which was originally available on YouTube but has since been taken down because it violates the website’s policy on violence, features masked men performing military drills in dusty camps as well as what appears to be footage of staged battles among Mogadishu’s ruined buildings. - Sputnik International, 1920, 08.01.2023
Africa
Al-Shabaab Terrorist Group Seeks Dialogue, Somali Gov't Says
*Terrorist groups banned in Russia and many other countries
Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала