AMISOM and Somali Troops Drive Out Al-Shabaab Out of Buloburte

Kenyan soldiers serving with the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) during their patrol in Kismayu, Somalia in this file picture. Somali government forces backed by African Union troops captured a sixth settlement in the latest advance in their renewed offensive against Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab fighters, a spokesman said Friday.

Somali government forces backed by African Union troops captured a sixth settlement in the latest advance in their renewed offensive against Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab fighters, a spokesman said Friday.

Shabaab gunmen are reported to have fled ahead of the assault on Thursday on the small town of Buloburte, in the southern Hiran region bordering Ethiopia, Ali Houmed said, spokesman of the African Union’s Amisom force.

“There was some fighting at the entrance to the town as the Shabaab tried to ambush and attack our forces, but they did not last long,” Houmed told AFP.

“Their forces disappeared as we advanced to secure the town,” he added.

Hiran deputy governor for security, Mohamed Ibrahim Ali, said: “The fanatical militants fled Buloburte town as Amisom and Somali National Army forces approached late in the afternoon.”

Fixed positions
“They have gone to the hills and bushes around Shabelle River that passes through the district,” he added.

Hardline Shabaab insurgents once controlled most of southern and central Somalia but withdrew from fixed positions in Mogadishu two years ago.

However, guerrilla units stage regular deadly attacks in the capital Mogadishu, and claimed responsibility for last year’s deadly attack in neighbouring Kenya, when commandos stormed the upmarket Westgate mall, shooting shoppers and hurling grenades.

Government and AU troops have also come under repeated hit-and-run attacks in rural areas surrounding the settlements they capture.

Amisom chief Mahamat Saleh Annadif boasted that the capture of Buloburte was “a major victory”, in a statement released late Thursday, calling the dusty settlement a “supply nerve centre” for the Shabaab.

After a series of sweeping victories in 2012, Amisom had remained largely static, hampered by limited troops and air power to advance again.

But the UN-mandated force launched a new offensive earlier this month against the Islamist fighters, after Ethiopian soldiers joined to push troop numbers to some 22,000.

The UN reports that thousands of civilians are fleeing expected fighting, warning that the offensive is expected to “directly affect scores of districts and regions” where some three million people live.

Reports say Al-Shabaab loyalists fleeing towns and villages are urging civilians to leave or be considered supporters of the approaching pro-government forces.

The Somali Government’s regional officials condemned Al-Shabaab tactics of inculcating fear in the civilians.

“We call upon the innocent civilians who were misled by the Islamists to return. It is safe for all peace-loving people to live here,” said the deputy governor.

“Humanitarian access due to the volatile security situation remains a major challenge,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement.

UN envoy to Somalia Nicholas Kay this week told the Security Council the offensive would be “the most significant and geographically extensive military advance” since Amisom started operations in 2007.

Targeted key areas 
But Kay also warned the security situation in the capital Mogadishu had “deteriorated” in the last three months.

Recent Shabaab attacks in the capital have targeted key areas of government or the security forces, in an apparent bid to discredit claims by the authorities that they are winning the war against them.

“Times are tough, and in the short term, may get tougher,” Kay warned. (AFP)
Last month, a huge car bomb exploded at the gate of Somalia’s presidential palace in Mogadishu.

At least two senior officials and nine attackers are said to have died during the attack, which Al-Shabaab claimed to have carried out.

The heavily-guarded complex is home to President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, the prime minister, speaker of parliament and some ministers.

Credit: AFP and Abdulkadir Khalif