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Africa Horn

Foreign fighters among militants killed in Somalia operation

2023-05-04

[Garowe] At least 10 imported muscle were killed in an operation targeting al-Shabaab

...... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...
gunnies in Somalia, the country's National Security and Intelligence Agency [NISA] confirmed, in the latest crackdown which comes a few weeks before the commencement of the second phase of operations against the group.

The spy agency said that the operation, which was aided by international partners, left at least 46 al-Shabaab gunnies dead in Sharif Farm, about 8 kilometers north of Barire town within the troubled Lower Shabelle region. Barire town, 60 km south of Mogadishu is prone to frequent al-Shabaab attacks.

Among the dead were 10 imported muscle but the spy agency did not reveal their nationalities at the time of press. Previously, imported muscle have been killed in al-Shabaab operations with the majority of them coming from neighboring Kenya, Tanzania, Æthiopia, and even Uganda, with others coming from Pakistain and Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
While the international partners who participated in the operation were not immediately mentioned, the Somali security forces have been beneficiaries of support from the US Africa Command and the African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
Transition Mission in Somalia [ATMIS] who help in aerial surveillance and ground combats respectively.

Statistics by the US Africa Command show that al-Shabaab has close to 8,000 active fighters but the number may have reduced significantly following the first phase operation by the Somali National Army [SNA] which left over 3,000 dead. However,
we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by...
the number of active gunnies still remains a secret within the command of the group.

In the recent past, al-Shabaab had conceded participation of the foreign mercenaries in sophisticated attacks with the most recent being attacks in the capital Mogadishu. The group gave names of foreign nationals who took part in the Manda Nabal Base attack in Kenya three years ago, further confirming their huge international network.

Data from the United Nations
...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense...
also indicates that the group makes up to $120 million annually from revenue collected through extortion and support from outside the country, with $24 million going to purchasing of weapons while the rest goes to payment of fighters and other logistics.

But the government has devised mechanisms for blocking revenue collection channels and has even closed down about 250 bank accounts and 70 mobile money transfer firms associated with the group. Business owners have also been warned against remittances to the turbans, with those found culpable risking cancellation of their licenses.

The al-Shabaab once admitted that it also supports foreign gunnies in West and Central Africa but the claims could not be verified. The latest setback against al-Shabaab backs the government's commitment to the fight against the group, with the second phase of operations set to start soon.

Posted by:trailing wife

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