July 9 (EUROPA PRESS) –
At least 40 militants from the jihadist organization Al Shabaab have died during a military operation by the Somali Army carried out in recent hours in the Lower Juba region, in the center of the country, during the restart of its offensive against the group after a few weeks of relative inactivity.
The operation was carried out with the help of the international allies of the Somali Army in the Welmarow area early this Sunday, according to the military statement collected by the official Somali agency Sonna.
The operation involved Somali Danab special forces and included an initial air strike, combined with a subsequent ground assault. Among the dead militiamen there are local leaders of the group and the assault has ended with several vehicles seized from the terrorist organization, the most active in the country by far.
The “total war” declared by the president of Somalia, Hasan Sheikh Mohamud, is now in a second phase that covers from the center to the south of the country, weighed down however by political conflicts such as the one that occurs in the state of Hirshabelle, after that the dismissed governor of the Hiraan region, Ali Jeyte Osman, one of the main local leaders in the fight against Al Shabaab, declared autonomy for the area due to discrepancies with the state authorities.
