At the beginning of the week, Ethiopian, TFG (Transitional Federal Government) forces and Ahlu Sunna wal Jama’a militia advancing from Luq in Gedo region took over several
Meanwhile Al-Shabaab leaders have reportedly been holding a high level meeting in Kismayo this week to discuss future operations and to receive two boat loads of weapons which arrived in the port on Tuesday. According to eyewitnesses at the port each boat provided some 12 truckloads of weaponry including small arms, ammunition, grenades, and anti-tank and anti-air missiles. An Al-Shabaab spokesman said the weapons came from “our friends who are very much pleased with the Jihad which is going on in Somalia.” He claimed Al-Shabaab would be getting many more such shipments. In addition to checking the weaponry as it was unloaded, senior Al-Shabaab leaders, including Sheikh Muktar Robow, Fuad Shongole and Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, attended the meeting to discuss Al-Shabaab’s response to the attacks it was facing and to the losses it had taken. It was apparently decided to continue to fight in an organized manner rather than revert to guerrilla operations, and Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys was named as Al-Shabaab’s war leader for the southern regions, despite his almost entirely unsuccessful record as a military commander over the past twenty years.
Source: A Week in the Horn – Feb. 24, 2012
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Related news stories:
- Baidoa hopes as troops search for Somali rebel remnants – Reuters AlertNet
- Ethiopian and Somali Troops Capture Baidoa From Al-Shabaab – Bloomberg
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