Somali leaders visit district liberated from Shabaab militants

Somali Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre on Wednesday visited Adan Yabal, a town in Middle Shabelle region, about 220 kilometres north of Mogadishu, which was recently liberated from the jihadist group Al-Shabaab.

The town had been under the control of Al-Shabaab militants for the past 15 years until an allied force comprising of units of the Somali National Army (SNA) and local volunteer vigilantes, commonly known as Mo’awisley, liberated it in November.

PM Barre was received by the president of Hirshabelle, his deputy Ali Abdullahi Gudlawe, SNA officers and local community elders. Hirshabelle is one of the federal member states of the Federal Government of Somalia that comprise of Hiran and Middle Shabelle regions.

Jubilation and enthusiasm

There was jubilation and expression of enthusiasm after PM Barre visited the district that had been under the strict rule of the extremist group for a decade and half.

“My government will do all it can to restore the basic services the district’s inhabitants need such as educational and health facilities, electricity and clean water,” PM Barre said.

The pro-government forces reported that Al-Shabaab fighters, upon fleeing Adan Yabal last month, destroyed two water wells in the town.

Acting president

Meanwhile, the Speaker of Somalia’s Lower House of the Parliament Aden Mohamud Nur (Madobe), on Wednesday visited Hudur town, 376 kilometres southwest of Mogadishu.

Speaker Nur is currently acting as Somalia’s president in the absence of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud who is attending the US-Africa summit in Washington, DC, USA.

The speaker urged the local communities in Bakol district, including those in the regional capital Hudur town, to organise themselves as local vigilantes elsewhere and get ready to support the government forces to liberate the region from the isolation imposed by Al-Shabaab.

Source: the east african