An Islamist terror group, long known for its implacable presence in the Horn of Africa, has lost one-third of its territory since the renewal of U.S.-backed Somali-led offensives.
Al-Shabaab's territorial losses and high casualties come after Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud announced a new offensive against the al-Qaeda affiliate last summer. Mohamud promised “total war” after years of repression and terror attacks.
U.S. Ambassador to Somalia Larry André celebrated the inroads against the terrorists, spearheaded in places by close air support from the United States.
As Task & Purpose reports:
“Somali-led offensives have restored Somalia's sovereignty to 1/3 of the territory formerly misruled by al-Shabaab,” Larry André said in an email to VOA Somali. “Ending al-Shabab's oppression is one step further toward Somalia's full revival.”
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That push has been supported by the United States, which has been carrying out airstrikes against al-Shabaab fighters as Somali ground forces engage them. American troops are also providing training for the Somali army, including the specialized Danab battalion. In January, the United States announced the transfer of arms, vehicles and medical supplies worth $9 million to Somalia to aid in its fight. That included more than 60 tons of Kalashnikov rifles, machine guns and ammunition for the weapons, which arrived in the country at the end of February.
Al-Shabaab had been on the decline in the early 2010s, following fighting with the newly established federal government, but has had a resurgence in the last six years. Since federal forces started their new offensive, al-Shabaab has launched a counter offensive focused on insurgent strikes, carrying out a deadly attack on a Mogadishu hotel in November that killed eight civilians.
The militant group once controlled wide swaths of the country, including the capital of Mogadishu, but now has been mainly centered in Somalia's southern and central areas (other parts of the country fall under autonomous control separate from the federal government based in Mogadishu). There are other militant and terrorist groups in Somalia in conflict with the federal government — including a branch of the Islamic State, which the United States has targeted — but al-Shabaab has been the largest organization, both in the number of fighters and area controlled.
The Trump administration pulled U.S. troops out of Somalia in 2020, a decision reversed by President Biden last year.
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Perish the buggers!