Saturday October 22, 2022
Mogadishu (HOL) - A memorial service event was held at the national theatre in Mogadishu on Saturday for Elmi Hagar Gure and Hibaad Ali Dasar, two traditional elders who were killed in the offensive against al-Shabab.
The two elders led the community mobilizations against the militants in the Hiiraan and Middle Shabelle regions of Hirshabelle state.
The federal Ministry of Internal Affairs organized the remembrance ceremony, which was attended by Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre, the Ministers, MPs, traditional elders and various members of the civil society.
The participants remembered the fallen elders, soldiers and pro-government militia killed in the offensive against the plot of the al-Qaeda-affiliated group al Shabab.
On September 29, Elmi Hagar Gure, a well-known Hawadle clan elder from Beledweyne, was killed near the El Qohle village 40km east of Muqakoori district, Hiiraan, during fighting between government forces and al Shabab.
Gure was part of a locally-organized militia known as Macawisley, fighting alongside government troops against Al Shabaab.
Hibad Ali Dasar, a member of the local community who founded the militia groups known locally as Macawisley, was killed in 2018 during intense fighting between al Shabab and residents in the Adan Yabal district of the Middle Shabelle region.
Locals believe Dasar’s struggle half a decade ago planted the seeds for the current offensive, which has been described as the most successful popular uprising against al-Shabaab in a decade.
Somali government forces backed by local pro-government militia groups liberated over 50 villages, killing over a thousand militants in the central Somali region of Hiiraan in the last three months.Somali military forces backed by local militia forces recaptured Masjid Ali Gadud and Burdacar villages in the Middle Shabelle region after the militants completed their withdrawal from the villages on Saturday.
Hirshabelle administration spokesperson Daud Haji Irro told the state-owned news agency that the joint forces fully controlled the villages, and operations could continue until the militants were eliminated from the region.