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GAROWE, Somalia, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Somalia's government-led forces have captured an al Shabaab stronghold on the Indian Ocean coast, the defence minister said on Monday, in one of their most significant victories since launching an offensive against the Islamist group last year.

The forces took the port town of Harardhere as well as the nearby town of Galcad in central Somalia's Galmudug region, Defence Minister Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur said in a broadcast on state-owned television.

Harardhere was a major base for pirates hijacking merchant ships until 2011. It was later taken over by al Shabaab, which first rose up against the government in 2007 before pledging its allegiance to al Qaeda.

"Haradhere and Galcad districts have been taken from the hands of the al Shabaab terrorists," Nur said. "This means al Shabaab is overpowered and gone. The remaining towns will also be liberated soon."

Also on Monday, government forces, acting jointly with militias and regional forces from Galmudug and forces from the neighbouring region of Puntland, captured Eldheere, another town in Galmudug, a senior Puntland forces officer, Mowlid Mahad, told Reuters.

Al Shabaab's spokespersons could not immediately be reached for a comment.

The long-running insurgency by Al Shabaab has contributed to an acute food crisis in Somalia. More than 200,000 Somalis are suffering catastrophic food shortages and many are dying of hunger, with that number set to rise to over 700,000 next year, according to the latest data from U.N. agencies and aid groups.

The government and allied clan militias have forced the militants from swathes of territory in central Somalia since launching a major offensive last August.

The successes have led some officials to claim al Shabaab is on its last legs. However, experts have cautioned that the group has been pushed out of major towns before only to regroup and reclaim areas the army does not have the capacity to hold.

"The make or break is not in the offensive phase but in everything that comes after that," said Omar Mahmood, International Crisis Group's senior analyst for East Africa. "Al Shabaab is definitely under pressure but they play a long game."

The group has responded to the military pressure with a series of high-profile attacks in the capital Mogadishu and other cities, including car bombs this month that killed at least 35 people.

Hassan Mohamed, a former military officer, said the government should replicate its cooperation with clan-based militias across the country.

"Al Shabaab would be extinct if government and clans were launching attacks in the entire country at the same time," he told Reuters.

Additional reporting by Abdi Sheikh in Mogadishu and Aaron Ross; Writing by George Obulutsa; Editing by Aaron Ross, Vin Shahrestani and Estelle Shirbon

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Somalia says it has taken control of key port from al Shabaab

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GAROWE, Somalia, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Somalia's government-led forces have captured an al Shabaab stronghold on the Indian Ocean coast, the defence minister said on Monday, in one of their most significant victories since launching an offensive against the Islamist group last year.

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MOGADISHU, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Islamist al Shabaab militants on Friday killed at least seven soldiers at a Somali military base in a town re-captured by the government, the information ministry and militant group said.

The attack was eventually repelled, an officer at the base in the central Somali town of Galcad told Reuters. He said the dead included the base's deputy commander, who was part of a U.S.-trained unit stationed there.

The attack underscores the formidable threat al Shabaab poses for Somalia's military, even after a government offensive launched last year scored significant success against the al Qaeda-allied militants.

Al Shabaab fighters stormed the Galcad base early on Friday, exploding car bombs and firing their weapons, Captain Issa Abdullahi said.

The base is run by Danab, a unit of U.S.-trained commandos who have participated in the offensive against the militants.

Somalia's information ministry said in a statement that in addition to al Shabaab killing seven soldiers, their soldiers had killed 100 of the group's fighters and destroyed five gun-mounted pick-up vehicles known as technicals.

In a statement al Shabaab said it had "miraculously overrun the U.S.-trained forces" in the town and killed scores of soldiers.

The government and al Shabaab often give different casualty numbers from the same attack.

The group has been fighting since 2006 to topple the country's central government and install its own rule, based on a strict interpretation of Islam.

Drones deployed to help reinforce the military carried out bombings against the militants and chased them out of the town, Abdullahi said.

Government forces just this week seized Galcad and the port town of Harardhere in Somalia's Galmudug region from al Shabaab control, a major success for the ongoing government offensive.

Galcad resident Abdullahi Nur told Reuters he heard huge blasts at the base, followed by heavy fighting and air strikes early on Friday.

"We have been celebrating the liberation of the town but it is now covered with smoke. May God save us," he said.

Additional reporting by Abdiqani Hassan and Feisal Omar; Writing by Elias Biryabarema and George Obulutsa; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel, Alexander Winning and Alison Williams

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Somalia's al Shabaab attacks base in town it had lost, kills seven

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MOGADISHU, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Islamist al Shabaab militants on Friday killed at least seven soldiers at a Somali military base in a town re-captured by the government, the information ministry and militant group said. The attack was eventually repelled, an officer at the base in the central Somali town of Galcad told Reuters.

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He has been reporting on Somalia and reporting overall since the end of 2021. Covering mostly the major conflicts in Somalia including cease fires, car bombings ect. Not much information on the author himself.

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Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world's largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers.

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From Burao Somalia currently a photographer in Mogadishu. Cover breaking news and daily life in Somalia. Specifically “Assignments about daily life and culture in Somalia excite (him) the most.”

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Reuters photographer Feisal Omar profile: "Assignments about daily life and culture in Somalia excite me the most.". Based: Mogadishu, Somalia

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Al Jazeera was a unique news source for this specific event as they are close to Somalia (in Qatar), are Muslim and are reporting on an attack on an ISIL leader. I found them to be surprisingly matter of fact about the entire event even calling al Shabaab's interpretation of Islam extreem.

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The US said the operation was carried out on January 25 on al-Sudani, 'a key facilitator for ISIS's global network'.

US President Joe Biden delivers remarks at the White House campus in Washington, DC, January 12, 2023 [File: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters]

The United States military has carried out an operation that killed a senior ISIL (ISIS) leader in northern Somalia, US officials said.

A statement by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Thursday said Bilal al-Sudani, a US-designated ISIL leader in Somalia and "key facilitator for ISIS's global network", was killed in the operation.

It added that the operation was approved by President Joe Biden earlier this week and carried out on January 25.

"Al-Sudani was responsible for fostering the growing presence of ISIS in Africa and for funding the group's operations worldwide, including in Afghanistan," Austin said.

There were no other details about the operation given, including how the US forces carried out the operation or even how many American soldiers were involved.

US officials told reporters at a teleconference on Thursday that 10 of al-Sudani's associates were also killed in the operation.

"We had prepared for the possibility of capturing Sudani, but the hostile forces' response to the operation resulted in his death," the State Department said.

In 2012 before he joined ISIS, al-Sudani was sanctioned by the US Department of Treasury for his role in facilitating financing for foreign fighters to travel to an al-Shabab training camp.

A Somali government offensive, which began in August 2022 against al-Shabab after the election of Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, has also made significant gains.

But the group, which has been fighting since 2007 to topple Somalia's government and impose its strict interpretation of Islamic law, has responded with a series of attacks across the country.

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US military operation kills top ISIL leader in Somalia

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The US said the operation was carried out on January 25 on al-Sudani, 'a key facilitator for ISIS's global network'. The United States military has carried out an operation that killed a senior ISIL (ISIS) leader in northern Somalia, US officials said.

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US forces have killed an Islamic State leader, Bilal al-Sudani, and 10 of his operatives in northern Somalia, American officials say.

He was killed after US special forces raided a remote mountainous cave complex hoping to capture him.

"Al-Sudani was responsible for fostering the growing presence of ISIS in Africa," Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said.

He also allegedly funded the group's activities globally, Mr Austin added.

Analysts say the fact that US troops were sent under orders of President Joe Bidento kill or capture Sudani, rather than using a less risky drone strike, indicates his significance.

Details about the nature of the operation have not been released, however the soldiers were drafted in via helicopter, according to the New York Times with Sudani killed after a gunfight broke out.

The operation comes after President Biden redeployed hundreds of US troops to the country after his predecessor, Donald Trump, pulled them out. However, those forces are reportedly only there to train Somali soldiers, rather than conduct operations.

In recent years, the Islamic State group has reportedly expanded its activities into several African countries, including Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

However Islamic State is a relatively small group in Somalia, with the al-Qaeda linked group al-Shabab far more prominent - it controls many southern areas.

Prior to joining Islamic State, Sudani allegedly did operational work for al-Shabab, assisting with training fighters. However he split from the group, along with others, to form an IS-affiliated group in the mid-2010s, according to security researcher Dino Mahtani.

He is accused of playing a "financial role with specialized skills which made him an important target for US counterterrorism action," an anonymous US official told the AFP news agency.

Sudani became "an important figure in the attempt by this faction of Islamic State to build a trans-national network straddling Central Africa and East Africa and now with links down to Mozambique," Mr Mahtani told the BBC's Focus on Africa radio programme.

His group are "master weapon-smugglers into the northern part of Somalia" and also have connections in DR Congo, Mr Mahtani continued, so was therefore a "high priority" to capture or kill.

The operation to target Sudani is said to have taken months to plan.

Somalia has welcomed the killing of Sudani, according to the Voice of America news site.

"It's a very positive and welcoming," said Somali government security adviser Hussein Sheikh Ali.

He stressed that Islamic State was not as big a threat as al-Shabab in Somalia, but that Sudani was "dangerous".

"The message is, that the leaders of all terror groups in Somalia are not safe," he continued.

IS Somalia is one of the group's smaller branches - claiming 32 attacks in 2022, mostly in the capital of Mogadishu.

One UN report from last year estimated the number of Islamic State fighters in Somalia was around 200 to 280 and that the country is used as a significant base to finance IS activity in Iraq and the Levant, but this has not been independently verified by the BBC.

Just last week IS published a rare propaganda video from its Somalia branch, which showed combat footage of clashes with Somali forces in a mountainous region in the north-eastern Bari region.

The raid comes less than a week after the US said a drone strike had killed 30 al-Shabab militants.

In recent months, pro-government forces in Somalia have been making progress against al-Shabab.

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Bilal al-Sudani: US forces kill Islamic State Somalia leader in cave complex

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US forces have killed an Islamic State leader, Bilal al-Sudani, and 10 of his operatives in northern Somalia, American officials say. He was killed after US special forces raided a remote mountainous cave complex hoping to capture him. "Al-Sudani was responsible for fostering the growing presence of ISIS in Africa," Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said.

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US airstrikes in Somalia kill 15 al-Shabab fighters

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Two U.S. military airstrikes in Somalia killed a total of 15 fighters from the al-Shabab terrorist group on December 14 and 17, according to U.S. Africa Command.

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Article focuses on US forces as well as the attempts of the US to bring stability to the region. Also discusses the differences in stance the US has taken on Somalia intervention from differing presidential cabinets.

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international relations and national security

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US strike kills approximately 30 al-Shabaab fighters in Somalia | CNN Politics

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The United States carried out a strike in Somalia on Friday that killed approximately 30 al-Shabaab fighters, US Africa Command said in a statement.

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Reuters is a UK based news agency that has a wide span of influence having personnel in around 200 locations. Being UK it is important to note they are going to have a western bias as well as whatever their specific "boots on the ground" journalist is going to have. In the context of these two articles it will lean heavily towards the support of Somalia, against Al Shabaab and be pro aid from the UN.

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This is a unique twitter account about the humanitarian effort in Somalia. The format allows for the human aspects of the crisis to become more evident. Though it did raise the question of how they balance supporting the local population while not consequently supporting al Shabaab.

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Tweets by OCHASom