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Somali government forces and African Union peacekeepers have launched an offensive in Mogadishu, in what is believed to be a pre-emptive strike after militant Islamist group al-Shabaab announced it was planning to step up operations during Ramadan.
Early reports say that the government forces have taken three intersections (Florenza, Sinai and Monopolio) in north-east Mogadishu.
The TFG force commander, Ali Anood, said his forces were planning on entering the insurgent stronghold of Bakara Market properly as soon as possible; however, similar claims were made in May when the pro-government penetrated to the edges of Bakara Market, only to not materialize.
Al-Shabaab leaders on Wednesday told Somalia Report that they were deploying up to 2,000 newly trained forces to Mogadishu for an offensive that would take place during Ramadan, which begins August 1. Dozens of suicide bombers were said to be amongst the insurgent forces.
There has been a lull in fighting over the last few months as all parties dealt with mass population movements caused by drought and famine.
The spokesman for the peacekeeping force (known as AMISOM), Paddy Ankunda, said the operation was a “limited and pinpoint offensive” aimed at improving security and helping aid agencies deliver food and other supplies to people sheltering in makeshift camps.
“Following a period of sustained provocation from al-Shabaab, our troops have dealt with specific security threats in a short tactical offensive operation,” he said. “This action will further increase security in the TFG controlled areas of Mogadishu and ensure that aid agencies can continue to operate and get vital supplies to internally displaced persons.
“AMISOM fully understands the need to restrain military operations while the aid agencies mount their humanitarian campaign,” he added. “However, we are here to maintain stability in Mogadishu, and if we perceive a threat from the extremist insurgents, then it is our duty to protect and defend the most vulnerable from this threat.”
Friendly fire
Ankunda did not reveal any casualty figures, but witnesses said four soldiers from the African Union and eleven from the government were killed when an AMISOM mortar shell accidentally hit its own forces at the Sinai junction. “There were many journalists from local and international media, and the TFG invited us to see the bases that they captured from the insurgent," one witness told Somalia Report. "Unexpectedly a huge shell hit a place not far from us, I saw with my own eyes four AMISOM troops and 11 TFG soldiers die.”
General Abdihakin Yusuf Aden Dhego Badan, the deputy commander of the Somali national forces confirmed the event, but denied the casualties were caused by friendly fire.
“It’s true that a place which we seized from the terrorists has been shelled, and it is normal to lose some soldiers when you are in fight," he told Somalia Report. “But AMISOM did not shell there, the missiles were from the enemy side”.
Badan said that further actions were planned against al-Shabaab bases in Mogadishu, naming Mogadishu Stadium, Towfiik, Huriwaa and Suuqa-xoolaha.