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(MENAFN – SomTribune) “> WhatsApp
In the two main cities of the Hiiraan region of the federal state of Hirshabelle in Somalia, two operations have been carried out that have all the characteristics of Al Shabaab.
The first targeted an administrative officer, who doubled as the traditional leader of his clan, in Beledweyn, the capital of the region.
Three assailants armed with pistols killed Chief Abdullahi Ahmed Qanyare ‘Biligbilig’ in the city on Thursday afternoon.
After a shootout with the city’s security forces, one of the assailants died. The other two escaped without being apprehended or identified. It is suspected that one of the two was hot and injured. 
Around the same time, Al Shabaab was actively involved in the peacekeeping forces stationed under the command of AMISOM in the second largest city in the region, Buuloberde.
Observers called the engagement a vulnerability test the Islamists planned to assess the tactical limitations of the post they attacked. In such situations, a more frontal attack could soon follow, they said.
Al Shabaab has reactivated operations in urban centers. This type of operation is intended to spread panic among the neighbors. AMISOM and Villa Somalia have often claimed that the Al-Qaeda-affiliated group had been defeated and that they could no longer conduct operations in major cities and towns.
In carrying out bold operations, beginning with Mogadishu, Islamist fighters appear to have been encouraged by the degree of “success” they claim such attacks have bagged them, boosting the morale of their bases once again.
Neither the government nor the Islamists have officially commented on the incidents.
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