Highlights: The head of the Somali army was dismissed Monday, June 20 by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud. The surprise replacement comes amid high political tensions in the region, which for the past year has been the epicenter of fighting against al-Shabaab. Three soldiers were killed on Sunday and ten others were wounded when their convoy was hit by an explosive device in Lamu County. The popular governor of the Hiran region was dismissed by the president of the federal state of Hirshabelle to which he depended.

While military operations against the Shebab jihadists have suffered some setbacks recently, the head of the Somali army was dismissed Monday, June 20 by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud.

Somalia: the difficulties of the "second phase" of the war against al-Shabaab

While military operations against the Shebab jihadists have suffered some setbacks recently, the head of the Somali army was dismissed Monday, June 20 by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud. The surprise replacement comes amid high political tensions in the region, which for the past year has been the epicenter of fighting against the terror group.

Members of the Somali security forces, here patrolling in Mogadishu, February 21, 2023. © Farah Abdi Warsameh / AP

Text by: Léonard Vincent Follow

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Despite an unprecedented effort by the Somali state over the past year, al-Shabaab is not disarming. After carrying out an extremely deadly raid on May 26 against Ugandan soldiers of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (Atmis), they have multiplied operations, even into Kenyan territory. Three soldiers were killed on Sunday and ten others were wounded when their convoy was hit by an explosive device in Lamu County, days after eight soldiers were killed in a similar attack in Garissa County.

In Somalia's central states of Hirshabelle and Galmudug, al-Shabaab was reduced to retreating out of cities in 2022, following an offensive by the Somali armed forces supported by Atmis. But another problem has arisen in recent days: Saturday, June 17, the popular governor of the Hiran region, Ali Jeyte Osman, was dismissed by the president of the federal state of Hirshabelle to which he depended. A Somali journalist explains that the governor had been in conflict with the administration for months over the issue of tax collection and accused the Hirshabelle state of weakening its forces engaged in the fight against terrorism, by depriving its forces of significant resources.

The man had become known in 2022 for his military successes in this former stronghold of the Shebabs, relying on local militiamen, the "Ma'awisley", who played a crucial role on the ground. The latter immediately protested in the streets of the state capital, erecting barricades and denouncing the dismissal of their governor. The latter also announced that he rejected his dismissal and even declared the autonomy of his region of Hiran, one of the two components of the Hirshabelle, with Middle Shabelle.

It is therefore in this context, and while the Somali armed forces are preparing to compensate, at the end of June and next September, the announced withdrawal of thousands of soldiers from the Attmis forces, that the head of the national army, General Odowaa Yusuf Rageh, was simply dismissed on Monday by the government and replaced by the commander of the presidential guard, General Ibrahim Sheikh Muhyadin Addow.

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Somalia: the difficulties of the "second phase" of the war against al-Shabaab

Somalia: the difficulties of the "second phase" of the war against al-Shabaab

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