A delegation from the Ethiopian Army travels to Somalia after the latest Al Shabaab attacks

Aug. 2 (EUROPA PRESS) –

A delegation from the Ethiopian Army has traveled to Somalia in recent hours to discuss with the Somali authorities the latest attacks carried out by the terrorist group Al Shabaab against Ethiopian territory, which have resulted in dozens of deaths.

The delegation, led by the head of the Ethiopian Army Deployment Unit, Tesfaye Ayalew, has traveled to the city of Beledwayne (center) to discuss ways to put an end to these incidents, the first of their kind since the formation of Al Shabaab in 2006.

The communication center of the Ethiopian state of Somali has indicated in a message on its account on the social network Facebook that “the main objective of the visit of the Army officers is to stop the harassment of terrorists and the invasion of terrorists operating in Somalia”.

In this sense, the organization has stressed that Tesfaye seeks to address the possibility of carrying out operations on the common border to end the presence of terrorists in the area and reduce the risk of an offensive against Ethiopian territory.

Last week, the Ethiopian government put the number of alleged Al Shabaab members killed in “coordinated actions by state and federal security forces” at more than 200. “The exact number of members of the terrorist group captured by the regional militias is under investigation,” Addis Ababa said.

Al Shabaab launched an offensive against the Somali region in late July, briefly taking control of two towns in the Ato area. The group claimed through its propaganda channels that the fighting had resulted in the death of 87 Somali soldiers and published images of the bodies of several of them.

Al Shabaab attacks on areas near the Ethiopian border are rare due to the strong presence of Ethiopian security forces in the area. Addis Ababa is also part of the deployment of the African Union Transitional Mission (ATMIS), which this year replaced the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) after 15 years of operations against jihadism.

Somalia is facing an increase in the number of attacks by the Islamist militia Al Shabaab, both in the capital, Mogadishu, and in other areas in the south of the country, which has led the new president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, to promise that will focus its efforts on security during the first hundred days of its mandate.