Deadly Al-Shabaab ambush strikes Somali army as security crisis mounts

 

Scores were reported killed on Tuesday from a major clash between Somali government forces and Al-Shabaab militants, at a time when international donors are slashing aid to the country's armed forces.

The Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab group has been fighting the government for two decades and still controls large swathes of central Somalia despite a massive international operation against it.

It launched an attack on Monday afternoon on Turkish-trained government troops and an allied militia in the Lower Shabelle region in South West State, near the city of Leego, using explosives-laden vehicles.

Al-Shabaab claimed to have killed 321 troops and taken prisoners, weapons and vehicles during the three-hour ambush.

The government presented the incident as a "major assault" by its forces on Al-Shabaab, saying it had killed 75 militants and wounded 56.

Neither account could be independently verified.

Samira Gaid, a well-connected military analyst, said the army was hit by "layers and layers" of suicide attackers on a narrow road through muddy terrain.

The decision to send the army to travel through the area -- a known insurgent hot spot -- "wasn't well planned", said Gaid.

To Al-Shabaab, it was "an opportunity for them to strike (the Somali National Army), knowing how weak it was".

She said the attack would be "shattering the morale and also the unity or the cohesion" of the army at a time when it is already facing severe salary cuts.

'Collapse of authority'

Local media platform Baidoa Online said the government had called an emergency meeting of the cabinet to discuss the "heavy casualties and substantial military equipment losses" during the incident.

A security source said it was doubtful that hundreds of soldiers were killed, but said that at least four Somali military vehicles had been destroyed.

"It's not so much about this specific attack as it is about the collapse of federal authority across virtually the entire South West State," the security source told AFP.

"We're looking at a notable expansion of Al-Shabaab influence across South West State."

Somalia ousted South West State's governor earlier this year, but has faced repeated attacks by his forces, attempting to regain control of the area. The government claims he is working with Al-Shabaab.

Former president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed weighed in by stating Tuesday that "the National Army is the nation’s most precious asset. Somali soldiers’ lives must not be gambled with or used to pursue political ambitions and personal interests.

"Regrettably, the repeated heavy losses suffered by the army raise serious questions about the quality of planning, intelligence, operational preparedness and the independence of military command," he said, calling for an independent and transparent investigation into the army’s repeated losses and into whether there had been any negligence.

Meanwhile, the government's fight against Al-Shabaab is increasingly threatened by international funding cuts.

After decades of being the biggest donor to the coalition, the United States has cut all funding to a crucial United Nations logistics mission, putting the future of combat operations in doubt.

Washington argues that Somalia's government has failed to make progress in uniting the country and tackling the insurgent threat.

Turkey has emerged as a key backer of the Somali government, but Gaid cautioned their air support could "embolden" an over-confident government that was not listening to military advice.

"All of these are signals that things are collapsing inward," she said, but "no one is really paying attention to how these battles are going to affect the entire sum".

"We're going into uncharted territory," she said.