Somali army targets Al-Shabaab meeting - officials

MOGADISHU, Somalia - The Somali National Army (SNA) in the frontlines targeted a high-level Al-Shabaab meeting on Tuesday, officials said.

Reports from top military officials say the military targeted an Al-Shabaab meeting in Caad village within Mudug, killing three militants instantly while inflicting serious injuries to two others. It is not clear what the meeting was about.

The high-level meeting usually invests in discussions about the strategy and policy of the group besides analysing their gains and losses on the battlefield. The government troops have been conducting operations in Mudug, defence officials said.

Those wounded are in the custody of the military and would be interrogated to give information concerning their actions. Al-Shabaab militants have previously lost several areas of Mudug to government troops but a resurgence cannot be ignored.

Melancholically, the gains come at the time Somalia is embroiled in a diplomatic spat with Ethiopia, one of the Troops Contributing Countries (TCCs) in Somalia. Ethiopia most parts of Western Somalia under the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS).

But ahead of the transition to the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) within the next two months, Somalia wants Ethiopia to completely withdraw, citing the controversial agreement with Somaliland as a basis for 'violation of its territorial integrity and sovereignty '.

Ethiopia wants 20 kilometres of access to the Red Sea in exchange for recognition of Somaliland as a sovereign state. However, the arrangement has provoked Somalia, which accuses Ethiopia of gross violation of international law.

With Somalia banning Ethiopian troops from participating in the new mission, observers say the move could trigger a resurgence of the Al-Shabaab militants in the country.

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has visited Burundi, Uganda, Kenya and Djibouti to push for their commitment to the new mission.

GAROWE ONLINE