Baidoa, Somalia — Over the weekend the Somalia based terror group with links to al-Qaeda known as Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen (HSM) walked in and took over the town of Leego within the Lower Shabelle region of Bay in southern Somalia. Al-Shabaab fighters also captured a military base belonging to the U.N -led African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) peace-keepers, all this occurred without a single shot being fired.
The Lower Shabelle region of Somalia has been rife with al-Shabaab insurgency operations for quite some time, prompting AMISOM to establish military outposts in key cities and towns along the main highway corridor that connects several cities within the southwest including Baidoa and the capital city of Mogadishu. The town of Leego is just one of those strategic locations which is just northeast of the Balidogle Airport where the Somali National Army along with their special forces, The Gaashan, have a training base.
On Friday however, the African Unions troops assigned to AMISOM’s peace-keeping mission up and abandoned the outpost along with the town of Leego early in the morning. Afterwards just hours after AMISOM troops pulled out, an unknown number of al-Shabaab fighters swooped in and seized the town along with the outpost. It still remains unclear as to why AMISOM forces abandoned the Leego outpost.
In a telephone interview with Reuters al-Shabaab media spokesperson, Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab confirmed the capture of Leego saying, “The town (Leego) is now under our control.” Local residents also claim that al-Shabaab members have fully encapsulated the town and have begun lectures within the town center.
Leego is no stranger to insurgent bloodshed as just last week AMISOM forces came under whithering fire by al-Shabaab and reportedly lost 12 peace-keepers in the fray, and in the summer of 2015 al-Shabaab killed upwards to 30 Burundian soldiers assigned to AMISOM and overran the very base that they currently now occupy.
This latest seizure of Leego prompted Somalia’s neighbor to the west, Ethiopia, to commit its armed forces to retake the town, the outpost and deploy upwards of 40 troops to the city of Baidoa.
Military sources say newly arrived Ethiopian troops will be dispatched to Leego to retake from Al-Shabab and open the road to Mogadishu.
— Harun Maruf (@HarunMaruf) August 5, 2017
The Ethiopian forces met heavy resistance by way of “hit and run” ambushes by al-Shabaab as they drove southeast towards Baidoa.
BREAKING: A convoy of up to 40 Ethiopian troops arrive in Baidoa today despite series of Shabab ambushes along the road from Waajid: reports
— Harun Maruf (@HarunMaruf) August 5, 2017
It is suspected that the newly arrived Ethiopian forces will be heading to Leego to square off with al-Shabaab as early as Tuesday to route the terror group from its freshly acquired strategic outpost. Ethiopia’s commitment of troops comes on the heels of the United States and Somalian governments increasing their joint operations against al-Shabaab by way of joint special operations raids cobbled with recent precision U.S. airstrikes that killed senior leaders of al-Shabaab in an effort to push the terror group from its base of control in the Lower Shabelle and dismantle the al-Qaeda-linked group’s insurgency efforts in the war-torn country.
Feature image courtesy of AP
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Thank you Derek for keeping up on Somalia.
Thanks for this recent news, Derek. Twists and unexpected turns in this war torn country. I did not expect to hear of Ethiopia sending in troops.