Somali National Army (SNA) troops supported by the southwest state regional forces conducted a joint counterterrorism operation targeting Al-Shabab fighters in Wigli locality of Diinsor district in Bay region on July 19.
SNA military sources reported that, the joint forces killed at least four Al-Shabaab fighters and wounded several others.
The operations come after increasing Al-Shabaab incidents by the Al-Qaeda aligned militants who still hold large swathes of rural areas in Bay regions, conducting ambushes and planting landmines targeting on local and foreign troops.
In another separate operations, a contingent of Ethiopian troops under the mandate of AMISOM on July 18 at around 03.00 am local time, foiled an Al-Shabaab attack in the Hiiran region, as counterterrorism operations intensifies in the region.
AMISOM-ENDF contingent swiftly responded to Al-Shabaab raid in its Halgan base after the Islamist militant’s attempted to overrun it. The fighting lasted for several hours before the militants fled from the region having been overwhelmed by ENDF.
Initial reports from multiple sources indicate that, the militants stormed the ENDF base from different directions and firing indiscriminately at the base. The ENDF responded thereafter, in a move which left several militants dead and scores injured.
Bay and Hiiran have become persistent regions of Somalia targeted by Al-Shabaab. Al-Shabaab is taking advantage of thicket vegetation and geography of these regions to stage guerilla ambushes and landmines/IEDs along the major routes used by both local and foreign troops.
