Thursday December 11, 2025
In this undated file photo, al-Shabab fighters stand in formation at an undisclosed location in Somalia. The al-Qaida-linked extremist group continues to operate across parts of southern and central Somalia, where it has carried out attacks targeting government forces and civilians.
Mogadishu (HOL) — Somalia’s intelligence service said Thursday its forces carried out an overnight operation in Middle Juba that targeted senior al-Shabab commanders in the militant group’s stronghold of Jilib.
Al-Shabab, which is aligned with al-Qaida, uses remote parts of Middle Juba as staging areas for operations against government and civilian targets.
The raid came only hours after a separate joint operation by NISA and international partners in Jambaluul, a village near Afgooye in the Lower Shabelle region. Authorities said that operation killed an al-Shabab commander and 12 other fighters.