Tuesday, April 30, 2013
The Somali National Army announced Monday
(April 29th) that they have gained control of El Garas village, 45
kilometres north of the Bakol regional capital Hudur.
"The armed forces attacked al-Shabaab's base in El Garas in the Bakol
region this morning," Colonel Hassan Isahaaq, commander of the army's
first battalion in Bay and Bakol regions, told Sabahi. "We took over the
base and killed five militants [who were] against peace. Government
troops did not sustain any casualties in the operation."
"We plan to expel al-Shabaab from the lands they occupy including
Hudur," he said. "We will not allow them to continue to remain there."
Allied forces pushed al-Shabaab out of the Bakol regional capital in
March 2012, but al-Shabaab re-occupied Hudur last month after Ethiopian
troops withdrew from the town. So far, al-Shabaab has neither confirmed
nor denied the loss of El Garas.