Somali and AU troops capture Al Shabab base of Bardhere

Amisom offensive aims to flush out militants in south

MOGADISHU // Somali government troops backed by African Union forces yesterday captured the Al Shabab stronghold of Bardhere, one of the group’s last key bases.

“We have secured control of the town. The allied forces are now conducting mine clearing operations in the different neighbourhoods,” Somali military official Siyad Ahmed said.

“There was no major resistance, and the violent elements fled when our troops approached. They have emptied the town.”

Witnesses in a nearby village reported heavy fighting between the Somali government and African Union troops, and Al Shabab, before the Al Qaeda-affiliated militants pulled out.

They said residents of Bardhere also fled. Al Shabab commander Sheikh Ahmed Abu Ubeyda confirmed that the militants had lost the town but insisted they had not been defeated and that fighting was continuing.

“The allied invading Christian forces and the Somali apostates entered parts of Bardhere this afternoon but the Mujaheddin are putting up resistance,” he said.

“The Mujaheddin fighters are still in the area and this fight will last longer than the enemy thinks.”

The fall of Bardhere comes less than a week after the African Union Mission in Somalia, or Amisom, launched Operation Jubba Corridor – an offensive aimed at flushing the insurgents out of rural areas in southern Somalia.

The offensive has involved Ethiopian and Kenyan forces. The Kenyan military described its capture of a key bridge near Bardhere as an “operational milestone in the fight against Al Shabab”. The bridge was used by the militant group to move its fighters and supplies within Somalia and towards Kenya.

Nairobi said that its troops, fighting alongside Somali soldiers, had killed at least 24 militants in its operations.

An overall casualty toll was not immediately available. The Amisom offensive was launched days after the Kenyan government said a United States drone strike killed at least 30 Al Shabab rebels, among them several commanders.

It also comes after last month’s Al Shabab assault on an Amisom base which left dozens of Burundian soldiers dead in one of the single deadliest incidents since the mission’s soldiers arrived in Somalia eight years ago. Al Shabab, meaning youth in Arabic, emerged out of a bitter insurgency against Ethiopia, whose troops entered Somalia in a 2006 US-backed invasion to topple the Islamic Courts Union that was then controlling the capital, Mogadishu.

In a message to mark Eid Al Fitr celebrations on Friday, Al Shabab leader Ahmed Diriye – also known as Ahmed Umar Abu Ubaidah – outlined plans to increase operations outside of Somalia, and particularly in Kenya.