100 members of Al-Shabaab were killed in joint operations with US forces

 The Somali Ministry of Information announced today, Wednesday, that government forces in cooperation with the United States Army carried out air and ground operations today in the Gal Lebaks and Sil Korak regions of central Somalia, killing nearly 100 Al-Shabaab fighters.

There has been no independent confirmation of casualty figures provided by the Somali Federal Government's Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, and AFRICOM has also not commented on these reported operations. In the context, the Somali army announced, on Wednesday, the killing of 30 members of the "Al-Shabaab" movement, in a qualitative military operation in the state of Hirshebele, in the south of the country.

The commander of the 18th Division of the Special Forces of the Somali Army, Bashir Abdullah, said in a press statement that "units of the Special Forces carried out a military operation in the town of El Qara in the Middle Shabelle region (in the state) in the south of the country."

He added, "The military operation targeted a gathering of al-Shabaab fighters who were planning to launch terrorist attacks against government military centers." According to the military commander, the operation led to “the killing of 30 members of the movement, while military equipment that was in the possession of the terrorists was confiscated.”

He pointed out that "the army is continuing its military operations, which included villages and towns located between the regions of Galgadud (center) and Shabelle Al-Wusta (south)." For his part, the Somali Deputy Minister of Information, Abd al-Rahman Yusuf al-Adala, said in a press conference today, Wednesday, that “the army killed, in a military operation, 30 militants from the al-Shabaab movement, this morning, Wednesday, in the El Qara region.”

He pointed out that "the army is continuing its military operations, which included villages and towns located between the regions of Galgudud (central) and Shabelle al-Wusta." This operation comes a day after the Armed Forces Court issued a 10-year prison sentence against an Al-Shabaab member, Youssef Hassan Ibrahim, on charges of collaborating and communicating with the movement since 2019.

The Somali army, in cooperation with international partners, is conducting a military campaign against Al-Shabaab in the Lower Juba region, which the movement has fully controlled since 2020. Al-Shabaab did not comment on the operation that targeted its members in the town of “Il Qara”.

For years, the Somali government, in cooperation with local tribes and external partners, most notably the United States, has been waging a war against the Al-Shabaab movement, which was founded in early 2004, and has claimed responsibility for several bombings inside the country that resulted in deaths and injuries.