Somali National Army troops backed by the allied African Union troops have recaptured a strategic town in the volatile Lower Shabelle region from al Shabaab. The troops took control of the town of Bariire, which lies about 65 kilometers west of Mogadishu, and has made advances into nearby farmlands.
Somalia’s information ministry said that the U.S.-trained Danab forces’ seizure of the settlement in the volatile Lower Shabelle region would be strategically devastating for Islamist group which is waging a decade-long insurgency in Somalia.
The local troops with the support of AU and American forces have been gaining ground in the region over the past few months as part of an all-out offensive to flush out Al-Shabab from remaining areas. The agriculture-rich Bariire was the scene where a U.S. Navy SEAL, Kyle Milliken, 38, has been killed while fighting the al-Shabab militants in May 2017, the Pentagon has confirmed his death.
