The summary from the National Intelligence and Security Agency (ANIS) states that the casualties resulted from two separate operations: one targeting a house and the other a search and capture operation, both in the Middle Shabelle region, north of the capital of this East African country.

It also specifies that the operations were supported by “international allies,” a possible allusion to the air assets deployed by Turkiye to support the central authorities in their fight against the Islamist group Al Shabab (The Youth, in Arabic), which is loyal to the Al Qaeda network.

Furthermore, it adds that the ANIS detachment suffered no casualties in either of the two operations, which took place in the town of Gulane.

Military operations in the Middle Shanelle region have dominated the headlines of the Somali press for weeks, suggesting that President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s government strategy is based on attacking segments of national territory to encircle the Islamist group, its main adversary, though not its only one, as it also faces separatist attempts in parts of its territory.

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