Initial reports are still coming in, however, local media is reporting that al-Shabaab has launched a complex attack on a Somali military base in Hawadley, Middle Shabelle. A vehicle borne IED initiated the attack followed by armed gunmen storming the outpost. This information is only coming through pro-Shabaab channels at the moment and needs to be verified.
Pro-Shabaab outlets are also claiming that a Somali Army General was killed in the attack, though they neglect to name him.
Pro-al-Shabaab sources claiming that jihadist militants have just struck a Somali military base in Hawadley, Middle Shabelle. pic.twitter.com/fsoXN1eX7d
— Tessaron News (@TessaronF) January 17, 2023
Al-Shab?ab al-Muj?hideen Terrorists conducts an Istishhadi attack against Somalia military in Middle Shabelle.
Militants deployed an SVBIED followed by a large scale assault on Hawadley allied SNA Camp.
No BDA pic.twitter.com/BwQAZIex5A
— CTNSIS (@CTNSIS) January 17, 2023
This comes one day after Somali forces took the port town of Harardhere and the nearby town of Galcad, Defence Minister Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur said in a broadcast on state-owned television this morning.
Harardhere was a major base for pirates hijacking merchant ships until 2011. It was later taken over by al-Shabab, which first rose up against the government in 2007 before pledging its allegiance to al-Qaeda.
