Somali police in Mogadishu’s Hodan district have arrested al-Shabaab member in a security operation ahead of the launch of the second phase of military campaign against al-Shabaab in southern Somalia.
According to the police, the suspect was carrying explosives intended to be used for an attack on checkpoint in capital.
The suspect was reportedly the mastermind of a recent grenade attack on local police near the University neighbourhood within the Hodan district.
The arrest of the suspect comes as Somali government is about to launch the second phase of the operations against al-Shabaab in southcentral Somalia.
Last week, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud declared that al-Shabab would be eliminated by the end of the year.
Mohamud said the second phase of the operation would soon begin in Somalia’s South West State and the Jubaland region.
Somali government in cooperation with local clans in Hirshabelle and Galmudug state had waged offensives against al-Shabaab fighters last year.
The allied forces liberated dozens of villages and towns in the Hiiraan, Galgadud, Mudug and Middle Shabelle regions.
According to the statement by the Ministry of Information, the government forces backed by local militias killed hundreds of fighters in months-long operations.
Somalia is also depending on troops from Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya after the neighbouring countries in January agreed to jointly launch military operations against al-Shabab strongholds.
