By Ajmal Sohai
In the aftermath of Dr. Ayman Al-Zawahiri’s killing by CIA, Al-Shabaab has stepped up terror assaults in the entire African continent. Hence, a 200-member group of al-Shabaab fighters in Somalia is planning to go to Mali to support Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam Wal Muslim group. (Recently, the French Military has moved its headquarters from the country to Niger). Al-Shabaab leader Ahmed Omar made this decision in an important security meeting near the border of Ethiopia on Tuesday, August 16, and on the other hand, the attack of this group has weakened the Somali government in Somalia and the war is going on in the capital.
On Wednesday, August 17, 22 Ethiopian soldiers were killed and wounded in mortar attacks and ground attacks by al-Shabaab fighters on the Ethiopian army headquarters in Berdale district of bay (bai) state, in the south of Somalia. The fighters of this movement also attacked the Ethiopian military base in Dinsur city of the same state and killed four Ethiopian soldiers. According to the latest information from the Al-Shabaab, group. The Al-Shabaab group carried out suicide attacks operation on the Hayat Hotel in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, where the top leaders of the Somali government are staying.
The attack started yesterday after Maghrib prayer and continued until this morning, currently the hotel is under the control of al-Shabaab fighters and they do not allow Somali soldiers to enter the area. Al-Shabaab started this attack by carrying out two suicide attacks on this hotel, and after that, Al-Shabaab fighters moved in the said three-story hotel and started killing Somali government officials.
In this operation, the head of all the security forces of the capital, “Mohiuddin Wa Raba” and the high-ranking officer of the capital’s police, “Mahdikaru”, were also injured. Al-Shabaab militants, who attacked the State run Hyatt Hotel in Mogadishu, confirmed that they killed dozens of officials, officers and security personnel inside the hotel. A special group of Somalia’s Special Forces and intelligence (Alfa Garob) tried to go into the hotel late this afternoon and detonate the first floor of the hotel and demolish parts of the hotel, but they were repelled by Al-Shabaab combatants, and the hotel is still under the control of al-Shabaab fighters.
On August 14, al-Shabaab fighters hit an Ethiopian army base in the town of Washako on the border between Somalia and Ethiopia with mortar shells. After the death of four Ethiopian soldiers in such incident, the Ethiopian forces carried out air operations on the area and after the bombing, the communication network of this city was cut off. In addition, Al-Shabaab fighters attacked the patrol of the Somali army in Bersanjoni area of the same state and as a result, two Somali soldiers were killed.
On August 15, a bomb planted by al-Shabaab fighters in the “Yaqar” area of Kismayo, Juba State, in the south of Somalia, destroyed a car of the Somali army and killed two Somali soldiers. At least two Ethiopian soldiers were killed in a missile attack on an Ethiopian military base in Adnali area on the outskirts of Badwa city by the fighters of the same rebel group Al-Shabaab, and a number of others were injured, while destroying a warehouse of weapons and three tents.
On August 16, three Somali army soldiers were killed and two others were injured in an explosion and attack by al-Shabaab fighters in the city of Afjawi in al-Shabil state in the south of Somalia and between the cities of Janali and Bofo. Al-Shabaab fighters have simultaneously attacked eight military bases of Ethiopian, Ugandan and Somali forces in the capital Mogadishu’s Haruwa area, Lefuli area and Alameda zone, in the suburbs of the capital and Shalanbud cities, and eight Somali and two Ugandan soldiers were killed in these assaults.
In addition to East Africa, the security situation in West Africa is also threatening, because in West Africa under the umbrella of Al-Qaeda group, along with Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam and other jihadi groups, and the Russian private security campaign Wagner have been pushing for attacks. According to intelligence information, Russia has decided to send 300 Wagner personal security soldiers to the West African countries of Mali, Guinea, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Niger with the start of the 2022 military antagonism, So far, they have sent up to 100 fighters to Guinea and Mali only.
What does the writer mean by ‘Africa Is Under Jihadi Terror Attach’?