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13 Al-Shabab Militants Killed in Somali Troop Assault

By Harun Maruf July 05, 2017

Somali security forces say they killed 13 al-Shabab fighters and wounded 10 others in an attack on a militant base north of the coastal city of Kismayo.

The deputy commander of Somalia's national security agency in the Lower Jubba region, Ahmed Abdullahi Issa, said the forces launched the assault late Tuesday after learning that the militants were planning to attack their base on the outskirts of Kismayo, 500 kilometers south of Mogadishu.

"There were about 100 militias who were gathering in a jungle area and we targeted them," he told journalists. "We foiled their attack."

Authorities displayed the bodies of the dead militants in Kismayo Wednesday.

Local security sources told VOA Somali that al-Shabab militants attacked the Somali military base first but were repelled. After driving back the militants, government forces called for reinforcements and attacked the militants' hideout, sources added.

Meanwhile, at least two Kenyan police officers were killed and 7 others are missing after an attack on a police outpost in Pandanguo, Lamu county, near Kenya's border with Somalia.

Al-Shabab militants claimed responsibility for the attack and said they had "overrun" the outpost.

Somali government forces and African Union troops are trying to diminish al-Shabab's capabilities ahead of the AU mission's withdrawal from Somalia, scheduled to begin next year.

Nevertheless, al-Shabab continues to stage frequent, deadly attacks in Somalia and in neighboring Kenya.

'Lack of resources'

Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire defended his government's security strategy in an interview with VOA Somali Tuesday.

"We have mobilized our military, men and women in the uniform who are doing an outstanding job, and I think we have already made a progress," he said from Addis Ababa, where he is attending the African Union summit.

Asked how the government is dealing with al-Shabab, Khaire said, "We are going to do what we are doing. We are fighting them every day.… We are very serious," he said.

Despite all the security challenges, Khaire says lack of resources is the main challenge facing his government.

"Without security you cannot create jobs, you cannot grow the economy, you cannot build the morale of the people, you cannot develop a nation - but lack of resources is the biggest issue that Somalia faces," he said.

"A government's legitimacy is to provide services to its people, and to provide services you need resources and Somalia don't have these resources as of today."

The amount of direct aid given to the Somali government is very small according to a recent report. The report by a special committee comprising the Somali government and donor organizations, published in April, said that aid flows to Somalia totaled an estimated $5.4 billion over the past three years. But only $158 million of that amount, about 3 percent of the overall aid, went directly to the Somali government.

The report urged the government to increase its revenue from sources other than customs duties collected at Mogadishu's main airport and seaport.