Mogadishu: African Union troops said yesterday they had launched a new offensive against Al-Qaeda-affiliated Shebab rebels in southern Somalia, vowing to flush the insurgents out of rural areas.
The African Union Mission in Somalia, or AMISOM, said “Operation Jubba Corridor” was launched last Friday in the Bay and Gedo regions south of the capital Mogadishu along with Somali government troops.
Officials and witnesses confirmed heavy fighting was raging near the Shebab strongholds of Dinsor and Bardhere, and said the militants hit back with a suicide car bomb attack against a convoy of Ethiopian troops.
“The operation will ensure that all the remaining areas in Somalia will be liberated and peace restored,” AMISOM said in a statement.
“There are heavy clashes going on between our forces and Al-Shebab militia along the road that leads to Dinsor. The militants ambushed a military convoy,” he said.
Witnesses who live close to the battleground said a suicide attacker struck the convoy with a car bomb loaded with explosives.
The offensive was launched days after Kenyan government reports that a US drone strike in the region killed at least 30 Shebab rebels, among them several commanders.
It also comes several weeks after last month’s Shebab assault on a AMISOM base which left dozens of Burundian soldiers dead in one of the single deadliest incidents since AMISOM soldiers arrived in Somalia eight years ago.
Shebab rebels continue to stage frequent attacks, seeking to counter claims that they are close to defeat after losing territory in the face of repeated African Union and Somali government offensives, regular US drone strikes against their leaders and defections.
There has been mounting speculation that the group could shift its allegiance to the Islamic State group.AFP
