Islamist extremists left the city before the arrival of government forces, which took it back without fighting, according to a member of the Executive.
Mo12345lemonde with AFP
This is “a historic victory”, welcomed Somali Prime Minister, Hamza Abdi Barre, announcing Monday, January 16, the resumption of the “strategic” port of Harardhere, that the Islamist extremists of al-Chabab held Since 2010. “2023 will be the year of freedom and eradication of Chabab, and the entire country will be released,” he added in a press release.
Harardhere is 500 kilometers north of Mogadishu, the capital. According to Hussein Ahmed, the Minister of Posts, present on the front, the jihadists left the city before the arrival of government forces, which took it back without fighting. The village of Galcad, located, like Harardhere, in the state of Galmudug, was also taken up on Monday in the same circumstances, we learned from sources close to the security services.
one ” Total war “
The Chabab, which took up arms in 2007, were driven out from the main cities of the country in 2011 and 2012, but they remain solidly established in large rural areas. President Hassan Cheikh Mohamoud, returned to power in May 2022, promised to deliver them a “total war” with the support of local militias who revolted against them.
The offensive, supported by the force of the African Union in Somalia (AMMA) and American aviation, has made it possible to reconquer large expanses of the center of the center of Country, but the Chabab, who claim to be Al Qaeda, remain able to commit very deadly attacks, like those who killed Mahas (center), in early January. On October 29, in Mogadiscio, two cars trapped also cost the lives of 121 people, an unprecedented assessment in this country of the Horn of Africa, also affected by a historic drought.