Saturday May 27, 2023
Mogadishu (HOL) - Somali security forces, alongside international partners, carried out an airstrike attack in the Lower Shabelle region on Friday, killing at least 30 al-Shabaab militants.
According to state media, the planned operations targeted four villages within the Kunturwarey district. Military vehicles and heavy weapons were destroyed during the operation.
The government media emphasized that the attack was in response to the group's assault on a military base manned by African Union forces from Uganda in Bulo Marer, an agricultural town located 110 kilometers south of Mogadishu in the Lower Shabelle region.
The militants utilized multiple explosive devices to infiltrate the base. Neither ATMIS nor the Somali government has provided any casualty figures since the attack on Friday morning.
The African Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), consisting of 22,000 troops, has been assisting Somalia's federal government in its battle against the al-Qaeda-linked armed group since 2022 when it replaced the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).
Last August, following President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's election victory, an intensive government offensive was launched, resulting in significant gains in diminishing the group's control over vast territories.