The president of Somalia puts Yusuf Rage back in charge of the Army a year after his dismissal

MADRID 11 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The president of Somalia, Hasan Sheikh Mohamud, has reappointed Odoua Yusuf Rage as head of the Armed Forces, who was dismissed last year amid the progress made by the armed group Al Shabaab, linked to the terrorist organization Al Qaeda.

The decision has been approved by the Somali Council of Ministers, as indicated by the Somali Armed Forces in their account on the social network .

Yusuf Rage, who already headed the Somali Armed Forces between 2019 and 2023, thus replaces Ibrahim Sheikh, who had been in office for a year, shortly after the launch of the UN Transition Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNTMIS). and the increase in operations against Al Shabaab.

The Somali president has not specified the reasons for the change, although it comes after the latest attacks carried out by Al Shabaab against military installations and the lack of progress on the ground in recent weeks by Somali forces.

Somalia has increased offensives against Al Shabaab in recent months with the support of local clans and militias as part of a series of decisions taken by the president, who promised upon taking office in May 2022 to put the fight against terrorism at the center of his efforts to stabilize the African country.