Friday March 24, 2023
Kismayo (HOL) - Jubbaland's President Ahmed Madobe chaired a regional cabinet meeting on Friday to discuss security and road management in the Jubbaland region, located in southern Somalia near the border with Kenya. The council of ministers discussed the ongoing military offensive by the Somali and Jubbaland forces against Al-Shabaab fighters.
The cabinet also passed the first reading of a law establishing the Jubbaland Road Authority, which would be responsible for constructing, maintaining, and managing roads and bridges in the region. The law will soon be presented to the Jubbaland Parliament for approval.
The cabinet urged Jubbaland residents to support the armed forces in their fight against Al-Shabaab, as the security situation in the Lower Jubba region remains fragile. In early March, Al-Shabaab fighters overran a military base in Janay Abdale, about 60 km west of the port city of Kismayu, which they had lost to the army in January. Forces from Jubbaland had wrested control of Janay Abdale from Al-Shabaab in January as part of the offensive, which first began in the center of Somalia before spreading south.
According to officials, in the past two days, Somali and Jubbaland government forces conducted planned operations in many areas of the Lower Jubba region, killing 28 members of Al-Shabaab fighters.
Al-Shabaab has come under intense pressure from the military and allied clan-based militias, who launched a major offensive last year. However, the group has repeatedly shown its ability to strike back with major attacks, demonstrating their ongoing threat to regional stability.