Al-Shabaab overruns base in Hawadley, senior commander among fatalities

GOOBJOOG NEWS|HAWADLEY: Al-Shabaab militants have launched an attack early Tuesday morning on an army base in Hawadley town, in the Middle Shabelle region, some 45 km from Mogadishu.

According to locals, the attack started with heavy explosions followed by gunfire. Initial reports also indicate that the terrorists briefly took hostage the whole village before launching the attack on the town liberated from the group in October 2022.

SNA commander Colonel Abshir Shataqey is reported to have been killed in the Hawadley attack, with the fate of other soldiers yet to be known as of now.

The attack came a few hours after Al-Shabaab suffered a staggering defeat Monday after SNA forces, with the aid of local militia, captured a key seaside town in Galmudug, which had been under the stranglehold of the group for more than a decade, marking the biggest Al-Shabaab defeat since 2011.