The Somali military carried out “intense” operations against Al-Shabaab militants in the Janale region of Lower Shabelle on Saturday, according to state media.
The 83rd and 84th regiments of the 14-October Brigade attacked Al-Shabaab strongholds in the river villages of Abaney, Beeraha Bay, Sigale, Malablay and Buulo Aruundi.
The operation’s commander, Ali Mahdi Beerdiide, told SNA Radio that his troops destroyed boats used to transport militants across the Shabelle river. He also stated that they were successful in removing IEDs planted by an Al Qaeda-linked insurgency group.
The operation comes just days after Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud declared “total war” on Al Shabaab.
Earlier this month, the SNA and local militia in Hiiraan liberated a village in Central Hiiraan that served as one of the group’s strategic operating bases.
For more than a decade, Al-Shabaab has waged a lethal insurgency against Somalia’s internationally supported fragile central government.
