Somalia announces it will soon launch a second phase of its offensive against Al Shabaab

Somali President Hassan Shaykh Mohamud has assured that security forces will soon expand operations against the Al Shabaab terrorist group with the start of a second phase in the Southwest region.

“The Somali people have one enemy and that is the Al Shabaab militiamen, who kill men, women, children and the elderly, all Somalis. The government has set plans to eradicate the terrorists,” he said.

Thus, he said that “the first phase is in its final stages and a second phase will begin in the Southwest state,” while calling for “unified efforts to liberate the nation,” according to the Somali state news agency, SONNA.

“If the roads connecting Mogadishu and Baidoa — in Southwest — are opened and all terrorists are eliminated, a blockade will not be allowed because Al Shabaab militiamen will be wiped out and there will be security for the people,” he argued.

In this sense, he ordered the troops allied with the opposition in this region to return to their positions after the last clashes in Baidoa with the troops loyal to the Southwest authorities.

The words of the president, who has traveled to the area to try to promote dialogue, come after Al Shabaab has made some progress in the area taking advantage of security vacuums due to these clashes, as reported by the news portal Goobjoog News.

Somalia has in recent months stepped up offensives against Al Shabaab with the support of local clans and militias as part of a series of decisions taken by the president, who promised on taking office to put the fight against terrorism at the center of his efforts to stabilize the African country.

Source: msn