MOGADISHU (Halbeeg News) – Al-Shabaab executed 50 attacks of different types in six months in Mogadishu, a U.S publication reported Monday.
Al-Shabaab is an offshoot of Islamic Courts Union (ICU) has been fighting Somali and continental troops since 2007 when African Union deployed peacekeeping forces in Somalia.
In a study published by Long War Journal, a U.S. based news website, reported the group managed to launch 418 attacks of different types during the six-month of which 40% were verified by independent sources.
“The information was gathered from Shabaab’s monthly operational reports. In total, 418 claims were compiled for this study. Out of these, only 167 claims (roughly 40 percent) were verified by independent sources, meaning that 60 percent cannot be confirmed,” the study reads, “Moreover, Shabaab does not often release photo evidence for many of its attacks, further complicating verification,”
The study stated that Al-Shabaab allegedly launched 125 attacks but 50 of them have been confirmed by the sources.
Al-Shabaab’s attacks on the city comprise assassinations, explosion, hotel targets and IEDs fitted into vehicles owned by public figures.
SOUTHERN SOMALIA
Most of the attacks executed by Al-Shabaab members took place in the southern part of the country including the capital city.
“Of the 418 attacks, 75 percent took place in southern Somalia, with 30 percent occurring in and around the capital of Mogadishu,” the report illustrated.
Despite having an unknown number of training bases, Al-Shabaab conducted fewer attacks in the northern part of the country.
Al-Shabaab used suicide attacks in just over two percent of its operations.
According to the report, most Al-Shabaab attacks in Southern Somalia took place in Mogadishu.
The vast majority of claims, however, took place rather axiomatically within southern Somalia — that is, the regions of Banadir (125), Lower Shabelle (111), Bay (29), Lower Juba (26), and Middle Shabelle (23).
The other areas of southern Somalia, namely Gedo, Lower Juba, and Bakool, also had claimed operations but in relatively small numbers.
“The next highest was Afgoye with 28, followed by Bosaso (22), Baraawe (19), Qoryoley (17), and Beledweyn (16). Many claims also took place in or near Merca, Mahadaay, Kismayo, Hosingow, and Baidoa,” the reports.
ATTACKS AGAINST TROOPS
In the course of this period, the overwhelming majority of claims (224), were against the Somali security forces, while AMISOM was the second most targeted entity with 117.
According to Long War Journal, the most common type of operations were assaults, which consists of clashes, raids, and military assaults, with a total of 166 of the claims.
This was followed by IEDs (101), assassinations (67), and then attacks with hand-grenades (43). Shabaab also claimed five public executions of its own members for alleged spying, which were coded under “internal attacks.” In nine instances, the jihadist group claimed to capture territory, which is under “ground offensive.”
Ten suicide bombings were claimed by the group, which were mainly used in large-scale assaults on Somali government or military sites, as well as AMISOM bases. Al-Shabaab’s utilization of suicide bombers fits with the overall trend of how Shabaab uses the tactic, additionally, it fits within al Qaeda’s general guidelines for the use of suicide bombings.
The Online media says All 10 bombings were independently verified.
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