Somalia and allied forces have relentlessly continued to push offensives against the Al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Shabaab even as the death toll from this week’s truck bombings has risen to at least 40.
On Monday, the Islamist militants Al-Shabaab used at least two trucks and a small vehicle with three suicide bombers to target people in the central Somali city of Beledweyne, in Hiraan region of Central Somalia.
The SVBIED attacks have so far claimed the lives of at least 40 people while more than 100 more sustained serious injuries. Those in critical conditions were flown to the capital Mogadishu. The explosions were the deadliest to have been witnessed in Beledweyne city has in years.
The simultaneous blasts ripped through a military camp that hosts local government offices, destroying several homes and businesses in the neighborhood.
Security experts say Somalia’s government must focus on strengthening its security system to defeat the terrorist group Al-Shabaab that was once called a rag-tag group, the group’s capabilities have been sharpened. The latest intensified military offensive against the Islamist militants have sparked counter attacks in the south and central regions of the country. The militant group has escalated in attacking both hard and soft targets in the mentioned theaters.
Security analysts also at Strategic Intelligence (S.I) have warned of more attacks in central and southern regions of Somalia even giving an account of the latest graduation of hundreds of the Islamist militants who had been undergoing military training at Sayid Muhammad Abdullah Hassan Military Training Camp who are ready to be deployed in battle. Thus, the current situation in Somalia and the Horn of Africa region remains quite fluid and fragile due to the state of insecurity.
Also, the current climate of drought and famine is worsening the situation, pushing communities to extreme lengths of vulnerability by the Islamist militants.
Al-Shabaab, which claimed responsibility for Monday’s bombings, reiterated that would continue conducting similar attacks as long as local clans and government troops in central Somalia increasingly mobilize against it. While the continued attacks showed Al-Shabaab’s resilience, notably the group want to discourage clan uprisings that has been witnessed in various areas of the south and central regions of the country.
In the past few weeks, Hiraan region of central Somalia has been the battle-zone between security troops with support of local clans’ militias and the Islamist militants. Humanitarian aid convoys have been attacked by Al-Shabaab, government officials including the regional deputy president of the Hirshabelle state, Yusuf Ahmed Hagar, who survived Monday’s bombings.
While the heinous terrorist acts are meant to discourage local clans from supporting government and allied forces, new military strategies need to be put forth in these regions by the concerned counterterrorism operators. Troops together with locals must continue to collaborate against the Islamist militants relentlessly. For example, the powerful Hawiye clans and sub-clans in central and southern Somalia have mobilized local militias with the help of the Somali government to fight the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab militants, more clans encouraged to come onboard in order to defeat the group.
However, according to some security experts, defeating Al-Shabaab in central and southern Somalia in the long term will depend on local and federal Somali authorities’ ability to deliver good governance and security and recently elected President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud vowed to do all he can to eradicate Al-Shabaab.
