Monday 30th July 2018, The Al-Qaeda branch in Somalia conducted a dawn attack targeting the Somali national army main base at Afgoye, 30 kilometers outside the capital Mogadishu. The town in the southwestern Somalia Lower Shebelle region of Somalia is the center of the Afgooye District and an important transit corridor. Shabaab detonated a suicide vehicle before launching an infantry attack. The Army was able to hold the ground forcing the terror group militia men to retreat.
The attackers’ original intention was probably to conduct a large truck bombing before storming the SNA base. The vehicular assaults are deadly, but the bomb attack could have potentially been far more damaging. SNA has not issued a statement providing an assessment and situation report. Given the resources they expended in this plot, it seems likely the attackers were probing the strength of the Afgoye SNA Base with intent of coming back with enough power to overrun the FOB.
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Afgoye town was once the terror organization’s stronghold before Ugandan Army drove them out. It is an agricultural area located 30 kilometers southwest of the capital.
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Al Shabaab militants briefly took control of Qalimow village, north of Mogadishu, Middle Shabelle region on mid July 2018 before a U.S airstrike forced them to withdraw from the area.
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The terror group has also deployed several groups of militants at Bal’ad, another transit town 36 kilometers outside Mogadishu.
The Al-Qaeda branch in Somalia, Shabaab Mujahideen continue to demonstrate it still has capability to conduct attacks in Somalia despite being significantly degraded. The group has been conducting attacks inside and around the capital Mogadishu. The attacks target strategic military outpost’s guarding the capital.
