MOGADISHU — The Al-Qaeda-linked group Al-Shabaab has swiftly capitalized on the escalating political turmoil between the Hirshabelle State and Hiiraan administration, resulting in the seizure of nine villages in the region including strategic towns along the main road connecting the region, officials said on Wednesday.
The crisis erupted after Ali Guudlaawe Hussein, the President of Hirshabelle, a Federal Member State in Somalia, sacked Ali Osman Jeyte, a prominent figure in the fight against Al-Shabaab and the Governor of Hiiraan region.
Jeyte, however, denounced the dismissal as “unlawful” and declared the establishment of a separate state called Hiiraan State, effectively breaking away from Hirshabelle.
Taking advantage of the growing political crisis, Al-Shabaab wasted no time in exploiting the situation and recaptured nine villages in the Hiiraan region.
These villages had recently been liberated in an ongoing military campaign led by the embattled governor, who was widely credited for coordinating the successful anti-Al-Shabaab public uprising that liberated nearly all of the region from the extremist group in recent months.
Mohamed Abdulqadir, a lawmaker from Hiiraan confirmed that Al-Shabaab had regained control of several territories in the region in the past few days, following well-planned assaults. As a result, government forces and their allied Ma’awisley militia were compelled to withdraw from the affected areas.
He accused of Guudlaawe of deliberately instigating a new political and security crisis, thereby playing into the hands of Al-Shabaab.
The recapture of these territories by Al-Shabaab presents a significant setback that threatens to reverse the major gains achieved.
Compounding the situation is the absence of Ali Jeyte, the leader of the troops, whose role and leadership has been widely missed in the battlefields amid the Al-Shabaab’s advances.
The development comes as Jeyte continues to be embroiled in a political showdown with Hirshabelle authorities,
On the backdrop of the crisis, the defiant sacked governor continues to garner significant support that will likely reinforce his position, as lawmakers and politicians from the region arrived in Beledweyne, the provincial capital, on Wednesday, endorsing him and declared him as the supreme leader of the Hiiraan region and the future President of the Hiiraan State.
Meanwhile, Jeyte expressed his determination and readiness to resume the military operations to reclaim the lost territory, vowing to counter Al-Shabaab’s advances in the Hiiraan region.
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