The Somali Army has captured twenty members of the terrorist group Al Shabaab and killed four others in an intervention in the Middle Shabelle region together with Burundian forces integrated in the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).
The operation also resulted in the seizure of weapons, according to Somali media Halbeeg.
This intervention follows another carried out by the same forces in Xawaal, where seven members of the terrorist organization were arrested and more than a dozen were neutralized.
In this regard, the commander of the Burundi Army, General Telesphore Barandeka, has pointed to other operations and arrests of Al Shabaab members around the municipality of Jowhar, while in Raga Ceele, weapons and materials for making explosive devices were recovered.
“The impressive work being done by our troops together with their Somali National Army counterparts across the country is important to our mandate and commitment to the people of Somalia,” AMISOM chief Francisco Madeira stressed for his part.
Somalia is facing an increase in the number of attacks by the Islamist militia Al Shabaab – linked to the terrorist organization Al Qaeda – both in the capital, Mogadishu, and in other areas in the south of the country. In response, the United States has increased its bombing raids against the group.
The country is also in the midst of a political crisis after the term of office of the president, Mohamed Abdulahi Mohamed, known as ‘Farmajo’, expired on February 8, without the holding of parliamentary and presidential elections, which were due to begin in December. All this has led to protests in which deaths have already occurred.
The opposition candidates for the Somali presidency announced on February 8 that they would no longer recognize the current president due to the end of his mandate, while at the same time they have opted to create a body in charge of preparing the next elections. The President of Parliament, Mohamed Mursal, has ruled out an extension of Farmajo’s mandate.
The controversy erupted because of the opposition’s rejection of the work of the body set up to organize the elections due to its composition, understanding that it is made up of political appointees, intelligence agents and “friends” of the president, a reason which led them to announce their intention to create a parallel “national electoral salvation commission”.
