Saturday May 6, 2023
Mogadishu (HOL) - Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud expressed his gratitude for the massive international support that the government has received in its ongoing anti-al Shabab operations to liberate the country from the group.
In his statement, President Mohamud acknowledged that the world has turned to support Somalia after the government put its force into liberating the country.
The President attributed the international support to the government's efforts to take matters into its own hands and not wait for outside forces. He noted that if the Somali government had been waiting for external help, it would not have come. However, after moving with their strength, the government received much international aid.
Last month, U.S. Ambassador to Somalia Larry André praised the Somali government's military operations against al-Shabab, stating that the Somali-led offensives had restored Somalia's sovereignty to one-third of the territory formerly misruled by the militant group.
President Mohamud emphasized that the international community could not support Somalia before because of the government's slowness in leading the fight against al-Shabaab. He assured the world that his second chance to lead the country would be spent on ridding the country of al-Shabaab so that Somalia could stand on its feet again.
Since August last year, Somalia's army has been conducting joint offensives with local militias against the Islamist militants as part of an all-out war against the group. The first phase of the anti-al Shabab operations in the regions has resulted in over 2,000 militants being killed and several major towns, including Harardhere and Galad, being liberated.
Last week, President Mohamud announced that the second phase of the operation would soon begin in Somalia's South West State and the Jubaland region, anticipating that Al-Shabab would be eliminated by the year's end.
The Somali Prime Minister, Hamza Abdi Barre, who chaired a weekly cabinet meeting in Mogadishu on Thursday, stated there had been a 70% reduction in al-Shabab attacks in the country. The Council praised the security forces for their increased anti-al Shabab operations and highlighted that the government had stabilized the capital during the last holy month of Ramadan.
The African Union Transition Mission (ATMIS) is expected to withdraw from Somalia by December 2024, after Somali forces assumed security responsibilities. ATMIS currently has around 19,000 peacekeepers operating in Somalia, who are not now part of the ongoing offensive against al-Shabab.