The federal government of Somalia has plans to launch extensive military operations against Al-Shabaab in the Bay and Bakool regions of South West state. The Defence Minister, Abdikadir Mohamed Nur made the announcement in Baidoa.
The decision came barely a few hours after the defence minister and Somalia’s military chief Odawa Yusuf Rageh engaged in talks with the South West state’s President, Abdiaziz Laftagareen in Baidoa.
The officials said their meeting was focused on accelerating the war on Al-Shabaab which the federal government launched last month.
The Defence Minister believes that this is the right time for the South West state locals to collaborate in the fight against Al-Shabaab and remove the fighters from their final remnants in the region.
The Military Chief Odawa Yusuf Rage said the operations will start anytime soon without giving a specific date.
There are similar operations against Al-Shabaab underway in Southern and central Somalia which are led by the federal government forces and local pro government militias.