Mogadishu-KNN-Somalia’s military says Special Forces prevented a planned attack by Al-shabaab aimed to target undisclosed places in Mogadishu, state media reports on Tuesday.
Officials of Somali National Army [SNA] forces told SONNA, Somali News Agency that they have seized a tanker truck loaded with explosives after their capture of Sabiid village of Lower Shabelle region on Monday, April 1, 2019.
It added the extremist group was plotting to carry out a wide-scale terrorist attack in Somalia, but the government forces ‘thwarted’ and arrested a number of militants following the liberation of the area.
Sabiid lies about 40 kilometers [25 miles] southwest of the capital, Mogadishu. Early assessment of the foiled attack was described as one of “the largest bombs” ever made by the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Shabaab group in history.
Al-Shabaab is blamed for Somalia’s deadliest attack, a massive truck bomb in Mogadishu on 14th October 2017 that killed over 500 people and injured hundreds.
The group frequently stages attacks in the capital in an attempt to topple the government and expel 22,000 African Union [AU] soldiers protecting it.
SNA forces speed up the war against Al-shabaab and seized control of Baladul Amiin, after flushing out the militants from Omar Berre, Sabid and Anole villages, all located in Lower Shabelle region.
The latest raid comes amid an increase of Al-Shabaab car bombings and assassinations in the capital.
