Somali army kills 30 al-Shabaab terrorists in operation

By Mohammed Dhaysane

HUDUR, Somalia (AA) – The Somali army killed at least 30 al-Shabaab terrorists, including two so-called commanders, during a military operation on Wednesday, the Defense Ministry said.

The Somali National Army (SNA) conducted the operation near El-Qura, which is located between the Galgadud and Middle Shabelle regions of the central states of Galmudug and Hirshabele, the ministry said in a statement posted on Twitter after the military operation.

They targeted the terrorists who had gathered in the area in the early hours of Wednesday and "eliminated 30 al-Shabaab militants," the ministry said.

About 200 militants from the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabaab terror group have been killed in military operations in a week.

“Our brave forces eliminated 30 al-Shabaab militants, including two senior leaders, in a decisive operation. General Abdullahi Ali Anod MoD spokesperson confirms 200 al-Shabaab operatives neutralized in various regions in a week,” it added.

The latest operation occurred a day after Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mahamud visited Jowhar, the administrative capital of the south-central state of Hirshabele, which has been an epicenter of the terrorist group's subversive activities.

Mahamud, who was elected for a second term last year, declared an "all-out war" on al-Shabaab, resulting in the terrorist losing large swaths of territory in central regions, including the coastal town of Haradhere, which had been under the militants' control for more than a decade.

Somalia has been plagued by insecurity for years, with the main threats emanating from al-Shabaab and the Daesh/ISIS terror groups.

Since 2007, the group has been fighting the Somali government and the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), a multidimensional mission authorized by the African Union and mandated by the United Nations Security Council.​​​​​​​