Tuesday February 21, 2023
Government soldiers battle with Al Shabaab militants near the home of a senior SNA commander on Tuesday, February 21, 2023. CREDIT: Risaala TV
Mogadishu (HOL) - Somali government forces ended an Al Shabaab siege in Mogadishu's Abdiaziz district on Tuesday, which resulted in the deaths of at least ten people, according to a statement from the Somali government.
Multiple sources indicate that the militants were targeting a series of compounds in the residential district that were in close proximity to each other.
One of the homes was privately rented to house wounded Ma'awisley fighters who had been airlifted from the Hiiraan region, where they had been battling Al Shabaab for months alongside government security forces.
The neighbouring property reportedly belonged to the Deputy Speaker of the Upper House, Ali Sha'ban Ibrahim, who had arrived from the Hawadle clan conference in Nairobi just hours before the attack. According to sources close to the operation, the Deputy Speaker was evacuated safely and taken to a more secure location.
The residential home belonging to SNA Commander General Garabey, who played an outsized role in the recent offensives in the Hiiraan region, was also targeted by Al Shabaab militants during the raid.
A statement from the federal government's Ministry of Information confirmed that all four Al Shabaab militants were killed during the raid,
which began with a suicide blast at the compound's gates at around 3:00 pm on Tuesday.
The ministry added that the attack on a residential neighbourhood in Mogadishu highlights the group's growing desperation amidst battlefield losses in south and central Somalia. The Al-Shabaab raid occurred as government soldiers
killed 42 Al-Shabaab militants in an overnight operation in Mahaday district, southern Somalia.
Tuesday's attack on a residential neighbourhood marks a shift in tactics from the Al Qaeda-linked militant insurgency group, which was previously infamous for staging attacks on hotels and government offices.
Somalia declared a 'total war' on Al-Shabaab in mid-2022, which was quickly bolstered by the support of local clan militias. The offensive has been the most successful in a decade, reclaiming several towns and villages and securing road networks that had long been cut off by the militants.