43 Al-Shabaab Members Killed in Somalia

Somali forces patrol in Mogadishu. (AP)
Somali forces patrol in Mogadishu. (AP)
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43 Al-Shabaab Members Killed in Somalia

Somali forces patrol in Mogadishu. (AP)
Somali forces patrol in Mogadishu. (AP)

Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud called Monday on the Army to be prepared for the second phase of the offensive operation against terrorist militants remaining in the country.

Meanwhile the Somali News Agency, Sonna, quoted official sources as saying that more than 40 members of al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab militants were killed in battles in the northeast of Somalia.

The agency said 43 members of the Kharijite (the term the Somali government uses to refer to the Islamist group) were killed during bloody battles that took place last Monday among terrorist groups in the Golis Mountains, northeast Somalia.

The sources added that during the attack, three Al-Shabaab leaders were killed. “ISIS militias defeated the Khawarij and controlled the area where the two extremist groups were fighting,” the sources affirmed.

Meanwhile, the Military Court of Somalia’s Puntland State sentenced ten Al-Shabaab members to death by firing squad on Sunday for committing terrorist operations in several regions.

Two of the accused, Adde Abdullahi Mohamed Elmi and Abdiqani Suleyman Jama Saylor, were convicted of the murder of freelance radio journalist Jamal Farah Adan in Galkaayo. Both men received the death sentence after exhausting all appeal options.

Early this month, 13 people from al-Shabaab and ISIS were executed by firing squad in Somalia’s northeastern state of Puntland.

Separately, the Somali President praised on Sunday the Army for gaining success in the fight against Al-Shabaab militants and ordered them to be prepared for the second phase of the offensive operation against the terrorists who still remain in western parts of Middle Shabelle and Hiiraan region under Hirshabelle State in Somalia.

Mohamud, together with a Government delegation, and Hir-Shabelle State President, Ali Gudlawe Hussein visited the Aden Yabal district in the Middle Shabelle region where he met with community members and listened to a report on the living conditions.

Aden Yabal was Al-Shabaab’s major stronghold in the past 15 years.

“The withdrawal of Al-Shabaab movement from the strategic city of Aden Yibal means that it was militarily and economically defeated,” the President said, explaining that the region was the most important economic stronghold for the terrorist group.

“This is clear evidence of the inability of the Kharijites to militarily confront the national army,” he said, adding that the militants have failed to find a safe haven and that their ideology threats against the local population have ended.



Syrian Govt Says Fighting in Sweida Halted

19 July 2025, Syria, Sweida: Bedouin and tribal fighters gather in the city of Sweida, as smoke rises from burning houses amid clashes between tribal fighters and local Druze factions in southern Syria. Photo: Moawia Atrash/dpa
19 July 2025, Syria, Sweida: Bedouin and tribal fighters gather in the city of Sweida, as smoke rises from burning houses amid clashes between tribal fighters and local Druze factions in southern Syria. Photo: Moawia Atrash/dpa
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Syrian Govt Says Fighting in Sweida Halted

19 July 2025, Syria, Sweida: Bedouin and tribal fighters gather in the city of Sweida, as smoke rises from burning houses amid clashes between tribal fighters and local Druze factions in southern Syria. Photo: Moawia Atrash/dpa
19 July 2025, Syria, Sweida: Bedouin and tribal fighters gather in the city of Sweida, as smoke rises from burning houses amid clashes between tribal fighters and local Druze factions in southern Syria. Photo: Moawia Atrash/dpa

Fighting in Syria's Sweida "halted" on Sunday, the government said, after the southern city was recaptured by Druze fighters and state forces redeployed to the region where more than 900 people have been killed in sectarian violence.

Sweida was "evacuated of all tribal fighters, and clashes within the city's neighborhoods were halted", Syria's interior ministry spokesman Noureddine al-Baba said in a post on Telegram.

More than 900 people have been killed in Sweida since last Sunday as sectarian clashes between the Druze and Bedouin drew in the government, Israel and armed tribes from other parts of Syria.

In a statement on Saturday, the Syrian presidency announced an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire and urged all parties to commit to it and end hostilities in all areas immediately.

US envoy Tom Barrack announced on Friday that Syria and Israel had agreed to a ceasefire. Israel intervened in the conflict earlier this week, hitting government forces and the defense ministry building in Damascus as it declared support for the Druze minority.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio later urged the Syrian government to "hold accountable and bring to justice anyone guilty of atrocities including those in their own ranks".