At least 5 al Shabaab fighters have been and several others have been injured after a local militia in El-ali village in the Hiiraan region. The militia locally known as Macawiisley which comprises of self-organized armed locals raided the al Shabaab camp housing terrorists that have been active in area.
Ali Mohamed Istakin the leader of the local militia said that they decided to eliminate al- Shabaab fighters in the region. He further confirmed that the fighters recovered light weapons and technical vehicles from the al Shabaab camp.
Al Shabaab has some of the largest training and militant camps in Hiiraan region and often times the region acts as a source of reinforcement to al Shabaab terrorists in other regions. Local militias attacking the AS camps is an avid indicator that despite the al Shabaab seeming to have gained momentum in the past weeks, locals seek emancipation from terrorists that control their villages. Additionally, weak SNA has time and again failed the villages by failing to offer lasting and sustainable security against Al Shabaab especially in central and southern Somalia.
