Al-Shabab militants have claimed responsibility for a series of bombings on army bases in the Lower Shabelle region in southern Somalia.
The attack took place yesterday in the early in the morning in Barire and Awdheegle districts of Lower Shabelle region.
General Odawa, the Chief-of-Staff of the Somali National Army, said that Al-Shabab tried to recapture the bases during the nigh but confronted prepared forces and said that they suffered heavy casualties.
The commander said Al-Shabab suffered heavy casualties and their bodies were buried in those areas, according to his statement.
He also added that the area of Barire district is under the control of the national army, and that military operations continue in other places as the army still hunts down the escaped Al-Shabaab assailants.
However, the National Salvation Forum, the opposition, has strongly condemned the Al-Shabaab attack on government bases in Awdheegle and Barire districts of Lower Shabelle region.
The National Salvation Forum announced that details of video footage and other reports demonstrate that President Mohamed Abdulahi Farmajo neglected the soldiers in those districts and accused him of redeploying reserve troops to the capital to crack down on politicians.
Another statement from the Forum also accused the outgoing president of not having fulfilled his national mandate.
For his part, Defense Minister Hussein Haji Hassan praised the Somali National Army for successfully repelling an Al Shabaab attack at the military base in Awdheegle and Barire districts in Lower Shabelle.
“We congratulate the courageous souls who stand day and night in defense of their land, their religion, and who have inflicted this heavy blow on the terrorists,” said the Somali Minister of Defense.
He also called on the Somali people to work closely with the Somali National Army (SNA) and prayed for the souls of those killed in the fighting in Barire and Awdheegle.
A delegation led by the commander of the armed forces, General Odowa Yusuf Rage, arrived by helicopter in the district of Awdheegle, in the Lower Shabelle region.
Odowa met with military officials and the district administration to discuss the fighting that took place in the district and how Al-Shabaab managed to undertake such an attack.
In recent months, Al-Shabab, taking advantage of the political crisis, has stepped up attacks against civilians and government forces in the capital, central and southern regions.
The security forces, for their part, have strongly diminished the terrorist group’s ability to hold positions but it remains very active and deadly.
