Is Somalia’s three-pronged approach winning the war against Al-Shabaab?
By
Abdulkadir Fooday
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Posted on
February 8, 2023 16:24
An ambulance is parked at the entrance to the Mogadishu Municipality Headquaters in Mogadishu on January 22, 2023, after at east six people were killed on January 23, 2023 in an attack by Al-Shabaab militants at the mayor’s office in central Mogadishu, according to police sources. (Photo by Hassan Ali ELMI / AFP)
The military offensive against al-Shabaab in Somalia enters its eighth month this February. The Somali government remains upbeat about its pending victory against the militant group that has been around since 2007 and has since spread its tentacles in the East Africa region and beyond. The government swears by its three-pronged approach really. Is it really working?
In January, the Federal Government said the national army along with the support of clan militia had killed over 2000 militants and liberated tens of villages and towns in the central regions of Middle Shabelle, Hiiraan and Galgaduud. Additionally, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud announced in mid-January that the government had frozen 250 bank accounts and 70 mobile money-transfer accounts in its bid to cut off al-Shabaab financing.
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