Fresh reports from Somalia’s Middle Juba region indicate that heavy airstrikes were carried out tonight targeting key Al-Shabaab leaders and bases. The operation, reportedly conducted jointly by the Somali National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) and international partners, marks one of the most intense coordinated strikes against the militant group in recent months.
Emerging information suggests that at least four separate airstrikes were launched against Al-Shabaab positions in several districts of Middle Juba region. According to intelligence sources, the strikes were executed by NISA and allied international forces, targeting different operational centers belonging to the group.
Reports add that Al-Shabaab’s main medical facility, located in a village between Jilib town and Xaramka area, was among the targets. The facility, which reportedly hosted several foreign doctors, was destroyed during the bombardment.
Security sources confirmed that loud explosions and artillery sounds were heard from an area between Bu’aale and Jilib, where a weapons storage depot believed to belong to the militants was completely flattened.
Residents of Saakow town also reported multiple explosions on the outskirts of the city. The targeted site, according to witnesses, was a training camp heavily guarded by Al-Shabaab fighters and run by foreign trainers. It was further reported that several militants killed in the attack belonged to a group known as Joyshu Usaama.
In a separate strike, an air raid on Jilib town reportedly killed several senior Al-Shabaab security commanders, including the group’s overall security operations head, Abu Kamaal, and the security chief, Abu Abdirahman, among others.
These strikes come just days after Al-Shabaab launched a deadly attack involving car bombs and gunfire on NISA’s headquarters in Mogadishu, located at the notorious Godka Jilacow detention center.