Event Summary
- August 2, 2015, The President of Somalia’s Puntland Government Dr. Abdiweli Mohamed Ali has renewed amnesty offer for Al Shabaab defectors.
- Puntland leader has given youths fighting alongside Al Shabaab terror group ‘one last chance dubbed 30 days’.
- Fighters loyal to Al Shabaab implored to surrender to Somalia government, in a bid to leave from extremist ideologies.
- In Bakol region, Puntland Defence Forces has arrested more than 80 people in connection with Al Shabaab fighters.
- At least 24 Al Shabaab fighters with weapons have surrendered themselves up to the government officials.
Analysis
The war against Al Shabaab terrorist group has intensified with members of the outfit being driven out of their stronghold.
AMISOM forces continue with a major swoop in Somalia killing dozens of the Al Shabaab militants. In the month July more than 84 Al Shabaab fighters were killed while operation Jubba Corridor whose chief objective is to expel the jihadists from Gedo and Jubba regions of Somalia has intensified.
On 22nd July 2015, KDF troops along with their Somali allies forces continued with their offensive against the Al Shabaab fighters and captured Bardheere also Dinsoor region has been liberated. These areas have been under the reign Al Shabaab militants for over seven years.
Forecast
The Somali based Al Shabaab is linked to Al-Qaeda fighters who want to overthrow the UN-backed Somali government and frequently attack government installations as well as fighting the neighboring countries.
The militants have been repulsed and driven out of their strategic locations may in future try to fight back to recapture those areas.
While the fight against terrorism is gaining momentum and some of the militants are surrendering to the government, the outfit is weakening but is defragmenting into small cells.
These cells in the coming days are expected to infiltrate to the locals and continue with radicalization and recruitment drives to fill the gaps thus Al Shabaab threat is far from over.
