Somalia military recaptures strategic town of El Dhere, government says

By: Mohammed Dhaysane , Anadolu Agnecy

The Somalia government on Saturday announced that the country’s military has regained control of the strategic town of El Dhere from the al-Shabaab terrorist group.

In a press conference, Abdirahman Yusuf al-Adala, the deputy information minister, said that more than 100 al-Shabaab terrorists, including 12 of their commanders, were killed in the Middle Shabelle region in a military operation supported by local militias and international security partners.

He said the operation was followed by a similar military operation in the village of Bulo-Madino in the southwestern Lower Shabelle region in which more than 60 al-Shabaab terrorists were killed.

On Friday, the army said it foiled an al-Shabaab attack on a military base in the central region of Galgadud.

Somalia has been plagued by insecurity for years, with al-Shabaab being one of the main threats.

Since at least 2007, al-Shabaab has waged a deadly campaign against the Somali government and international forces, claiming thousands of lives.

The UN has also warned of growing instability in the country, with its periodic reports on Somalia this year detailing attacks by al-Shabaab and pro-Daesh/ISIS groups.

There were at least 1,518 civilian casualties – 651 killed and 867 injured – in terrorist attacks in Somalia in 2018, followed by 1,459 – 591 killed and 868 injured – in 2019, according to UN estimates.