Day: May 4, 2023

A man arrested on suspicion of being an Al Shabaab spy has been jailed for three years after he admitted to being in the country illegally.

Alion Edin Marsack, a Somali national was arrested in Wargadud Township, Mandera County a town along the Kenya – Somalia border on April 21 and detained at the Elwak Police Station.

He was arraigned at a Mandera Court on two counts of being in the country illegally and entering the country through a place that is not designated as a point of entry or exit.

Detectives are however investigating the activities that Marscak was up to in the country before he was arrested following a tip-off from members of the public.

During his interrogation by detectives from the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit, Marsack confessed that he was recruited by the terror group in 2018.

He told detectives that he had undergone various training including collecting information for facilitating attacks.

Detectives believe that he is one of the spies dispatched from the terror groups El Adde camp in Somalia to collect information in the country and turn it over.

Investigators say that he was in the company of a member of the terror group who has been on their radar for some time and during interrogation Marsack admitted so.

Marsack told the police that he was once deployed to an unspecified camp in Jilib before moving to Gedo to carry out different operations within Somalia.

The 39-year-old said that he worked as a mason in Somalia, and admitted that he was involved in over five attacks carried out by the terror group in Gedo and Middle Juba in Somalia.

Police suspect that Marsack could have been in the area not just for collecting information but also to plan how to destroy communication masts using Improvised Explosive Devices in anticipation of an attack by the terror group.

The investigators are expected to drag him back to court where he will be charged with being a member of a terrorist group and collecting information for a terrorist organization.

Source: Somali National News Agency

Plans to ensure the first phase of troop drawdown by ATMIS (African Union Transition Mission in Somalia) does not ‘negate’ security gains made to date are underway by the mission’s six troop contributing countries (TCCs).

Senior representatives of the six countries met in Kampala late last month where Ugandan Foreign Affairs Minister Odongo Abubakhar told those present it was critical to plan for ‘a successful exit of AU (African Union) troops’.

Other countries at the meeting were Burundi, Djibouti, Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia.

He said further, according to an ATMIS statement, it is ‘prudent to effect joint assessment of the security situation, planning and co-ordination as TCCs to execute draw down timelines and for the government of Somalia to ensure force generation and integration to assume security responsibilities’.

Head of the EU (European Union) delegation to Uganda Jan Sadek said developing capability of the Somali Security Forces was critical to ensuring the long term security of Somalia and the region.

‘Strengthening the capacity of the Somali Security Forces and governance actors to take over responsibility for protecting the people must remain a key objective of all Somalia’s partners. The only exit strategy for ATMIS is thus to support the Somali security sector,’ Sadek is reported as saying.

Source: Somali National News Agency

Mogadishu (SONNA)-Somali National Army and the Local Forces on Thursday took control of new areas after conducting joint military operation west of Harardhere town in Mudug region under Galmudug State.

Army officials in the region said that the forces targeted Al-Shabaab militants who were regrouping in the area, telling that the army is in full control of the areas while pursuing the terrorists escaping from there.

The Army together with local forces on Tuesday morning killed over 60 Al-Shabaab terrorists and injured after conducting an operation at Ceel Qabobe about 30 kilometers south of Harardhere town.

Army Chief, Odowa Yusuf Rage told Somali National News Agency that the forces burnt down a big truck loaded with explosives and captured Toyota Hi-Lux car during the operation.

‘ SNA forces had prior intelligence reports about the terrorists’ movement and carried out the special operation in the area’, Rage said.

He added that the forces also arrested some Al-Shabaab captives and recovered weapons.

This military development came an hour after the Somali Government’s Cabinet Ministers presented a new security report showing that the ongoing army offensive operations reduced 70 percent of the terrorist attacks by Al-Shabaab in the country.

Source: Somali National News Agency