Saturday September 24, 2022
The federal Minister of Defense and the Commander of the SNA inspecting the 4th and 64th Danab and SNA soldiers on Wednesday, September 21. CREDIT: SNA
Mogadishu (HOL) - Somalia's Ministry of Defence Abdukhadir Mohamed Nor, Chief of Defense Forces General Odowaa Yusuf Rageh and other military officials visited recently-liberated areas on Friday.
They visited Yasoman village, where 75 al Shabab militants were killed on Sunday during an operation jointly conducted by the Somali government forces alongside anti-al Shabab militias.
"Every person must fight against al-Shabaab, and we will expel them from the country in a short period. We will remember every martyred soldier in the fight against al Shabab in the country's history, and the living soldier should be proud of the success they have brought to the country," the minister remarked to government soldiers in the Hiiraan region.
He added that the residents in the regions want to help the army to flush out al Shabab amid increased attacks by government forces.
Chief of Defense Forces, General Odowaa Yusuf Rageh, has called on al-Shabaab fighters hiding in the countryside to surrender to government forces, saying that have no other options.
The Somali army and its allies have launched an offensive against al Shabaab in central Somalia, and the US military confirmed this week that an airstrike killed 27 al-Shabab fighters pursuing Somali military forces near Buulobarde in Hiiraan.
According to AFRICOM, the offensive was "the largest combined Somali and [African Union Transition Mission in Somalia, ATMIS] offensive operation in five years," with no civilians injured.
Residents in central Somalia say they have formed paramilitary groups to fight alongside government security forces against the al Shabaab after the group destroyed drinking wells, set fire to homes, and targeted clan elders as the region suffers from the worst drought in four decades.