Somali government forces freed at least ten villages in the Galgadud’s Gal’ad district by yesterday after conducting a security operation. Colonel Sanay Abdulle, commander of the fourth battalion of the National Army’s 27th division, led the operation and encouraged the inhabitants of the recently liberated villages to embrace the army and government.
The second phase of operations against the terrorist group al-Shabab is currently in progress in the Hiiraan and Galgadud regions, with the objective of liberating the remaining areas under the militants’ control. Federal Parliament Members Yasin Fareey and Hassan Husul, accompanied by military officers, inspected neighbourhoods within the Galcad district that government forces had reclaimed this week.
The local populace recounted to the MPs and officials their experiences of murder, robbery, looting, abduction, and oppression at the hands of al-Shabab. They urged the government to establish social services and restore places of worship desecrated by the terrorist group.
The capture of Gal’ad, situated roughly 375 kilometres north of Mogadishu, signifies that the government-led offensive against al-Shabab in central Somalia is advancing. Since the initiation of the military offensive in August, the government has reported the elimination of thousands of militants and the reclamation of dozens of localities in the neighbouring Hirshabelle and Galmudug states.
