The United Stated said that it will assess it support towards the Elite Somali military unit, known as the Danab in the fight against the Al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Shabaab extremists.
According to an official at the US embassy in Mogadishu and cited by a number of local open Somali sources, the US is set to review it support to the Elite Somali unit. The sentiment follows Danab involvement in this week’s fighting that has been witnessed in central Somali town of Guriel.
The fighting that started on Saturday 23rd, has been ongoing for about five days. The battle pits government SNA troops and Galmudug regional forces against the militias of Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’a (ASWJ), the moderate Islamist group which is a rival to Al-Shabaab.
A Danab commander, Major Abdilatif Ahmed Ali Fayfle, is among those killed in the fighting. The US has been providing training and providing support to the Elite Somali Unit, with a sole objective of fighting and degrading Al-Shabaab.
The fighting in Guriel, which started on Saturday, has claimed the lives of dozens of people, injured scores of others, and displaced about 100,000 Somalis, according to local officials and health workers.
The United States which earlier in the year withdrew a substantial number of its troops and leaving a limited presence in the war-torn Somalia, considers Al-Shabaab the major militant threat in the country and broader East Africa region that must be degraded through concerted military partnership and efforts.
African Union peacekeepers from Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Burundi also have been supporting the weak Federal Government of Somalia troops in the fight against Al-Shabaab under AMISOM’s areas of responsibility (Sector 1 – Sector 5).
