Kampala
The Chief of Defence Forces, Gen Katumba Wamala, is in Mogadishu to oversee the UPDF final assault on the al-Shabaab's most strategic Somali port of Baraawe.
By Thursday evening, the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) had laid siege on Baraawe and cut off all links to and out of the port, leaving the al-Shabaab insurgents only one escape route through the Indian Ocean. The UPDF has been in Somalia to fight the al-Shabaab under the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom).
On Thursday, the spokesman for Uganda's Amisom contingent in Somalia, Maj Deo Akiiki, told Saturday Monitor by telephone from the UPDF's forward base of Subley, 174km south of the capital Mogadishu, that by the end of September there will be no area controlled by al-Shabaab in the UPDF operational sector of Central and Middle Somalia.
The territory
Al-Shabaab controls a stretch of 79kms from Subley, where the UPDF had established a forward base by Thursday night, to Baraawe port which is the main supply point and source of revenue for the insurgents.
The ongoing Operation Indian Ocean has already forced the al-Shabaab to flee battlefields and escape through the Indian Ocean. "If Amisom had good maritime capability, they [al-Shabaab] would as well be cut off from escaping by sea. But before this month ends, there should be no area controlled by al-Shabaab in our sector," Maj Akiiki said.
Ugandan troops are fighting without airpower after the four attack helicopters meant for the Amisom operation crashed in Mount Kenya two years ago. The UPDF are now only using infantry artillery like tanks and armoured vehicles to fight the insurgents.
To block the advancing Ugandan troops, al-Shabaab were flooding the roads by opening irrigation water canals but the UPDF engineers were deployed to fix the damaged roads.
Gen Katumba joined his troops at the frontline on Thursday and held meetings with commanders to make final preparations for the assault on Baraawe port. "He has come to the operational area to give morale to the troops who are preparing for an assault on Baraawe," Maj Akiiki said.
"It's like an island now. We have cut off all roads connecting the port to Mogadishu," he added. But before they enter Baraawe, the UPDF will have to secure the town of Sablale which American drones hit on Monday. The town is still controlled by al-Shabaab and lies between Subley, the UPDF forward base, and Baraawe port.
Americans hit a convoy of al-Shabaab insurgents in Sablale town on Monday and it is suspected their spiritual leader, Abdi Godane, also known as Mukhtar Abu Zubeyr, was driving in the motorcade.
Source😀ailymonitor
http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/Natio...-base/-/688334/2442256/-/cf2pv2z/-/index.html
The Chief of Defence Forces, Gen Katumba Wamala, is in Mogadishu to oversee the UPDF final assault on the al-Shabaab's most strategic Somali port of Baraawe.
By Thursday evening, the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) had laid siege on Baraawe and cut off all links to and out of the port, leaving the al-Shabaab insurgents only one escape route through the Indian Ocean. The UPDF has been in Somalia to fight the al-Shabaab under the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom).
On Thursday, the spokesman for Uganda's Amisom contingent in Somalia, Maj Deo Akiiki, told Saturday Monitor by telephone from the UPDF's forward base of Subley, 174km south of the capital Mogadishu, that by the end of September there will be no area controlled by al-Shabaab in the UPDF operational sector of Central and Middle Somalia.
The territory
Al-Shabaab controls a stretch of 79kms from Subley, where the UPDF had established a forward base by Thursday night, to Baraawe port which is the main supply point and source of revenue for the insurgents.
The ongoing Operation Indian Ocean has already forced the al-Shabaab to flee battlefields and escape through the Indian Ocean. "If Amisom had good maritime capability, they [al-Shabaab] would as well be cut off from escaping by sea. But before this month ends, there should be no area controlled by al-Shabaab in our sector," Maj Akiiki said.
Ugandan troops are fighting without airpower after the four attack helicopters meant for the Amisom operation crashed in Mount Kenya two years ago. The UPDF are now only using infantry artillery like tanks and armoured vehicles to fight the insurgents.
To block the advancing Ugandan troops, al-Shabaab were flooding the roads by opening irrigation water canals but the UPDF engineers were deployed to fix the damaged roads.
Gen Katumba joined his troops at the frontline on Thursday and held meetings with commanders to make final preparations for the assault on Baraawe port. "He has come to the operational area to give morale to the troops who are preparing for an assault on Baraawe," Maj Akiiki said.
"It's like an island now. We have cut off all roads connecting the port to Mogadishu," he added. But before they enter Baraawe, the UPDF will have to secure the town of Sablale which American drones hit on Monday. The town is still controlled by al-Shabaab and lies between Subley, the UPDF forward base, and Baraawe port.
Americans hit a convoy of al-Shabaab insurgents in Sablale town on Monday and it is suspected their spiritual leader, Abdi Godane, also known as Mukhtar Abu Zubeyr, was driving in the motorcade.
Source😀ailymonitor
http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/Natio...-base/-/688334/2442256/-/cf2pv2z/-/index.html
