Al-Shabaab rebels were forced out of a vital community in central Somalia that the militants group had been in control of for six years by Somali forces and allied militias, according to officials and the African Union (AU) on Tuesday.
The government, supported by AU soldiers and clan militias, claims to have killed over 700 al-Shabaab fighters and retaken dozens of communities as part of an operation that has lasted months to reduce the al Qaeda-affiliated group’s hold over sizable portions of the nation.
Mahamu Hasan Mahamud, the mayor of Adan Yabal, noted that the Army have successfully taken control of the town and its neighboring district of the same name on Monday.
“This district of Adan Yabal was very important for al-Shabaab because it is the heart that connects the central regions and the south of Somalia. It was also their main base from which they manage the central regions,” Mahamud told reporters late on Monday.
He claimed that the soldiers were searching the town, which is located about 240 kilometres northeast of Mogadishu, for mines.
“Seizing this town was the best opportunity for Somali government & the biggest setback to the terrorist which lost many districts in the last 3 months,” the prime minister’s spokesman Abdifitah Hashi wrote on Twitter.
Mohammed El-Amine Souef, the director of the AU mission in Somalia, identified the town as a training center for al Shabaab and claimed that the larger assault was dealing “destructive and decisive” blows to the organisation.
Analysts claim that while Al-Shabaab routinely leaves areas before army offensives, the government frequently loses control of land it has taken back, allowing the militants to retake it.
“When they entered the town, al-Shabaab were not there,” Absher Mudey, a shop owner in Adan Yabal, told Reuters by telephone. “Most of the people fled because they were afraid that fighting would break out.”