Puntland trashed the hope of any would be terror camps in North Somalia

[Qandalawi]

Puntland launches new raid on Al-Qaeda-linked militia

 

(AFP) – 22 hours ago

 

MOGADISHU — Security forces from the Somali breakaway state of Puntland launched Sunday a fresh raid against an Al-Qaeda-linked militia, leaving at least seven people dead, officials and witnesses said.

 

The attack comes nearly two weeks after a similar deadly offensive targeting the group of several hundred fighters led by local warlord Mohamed Said Atom, who is on a UN Security Council watchlist.

 

Puntland Security Minister Yusuf Ahmed Qeyr proclaimed victory over the militia in the raid in the Sanaag region, which is on the mountainous frontier between Puntland and Somaliland, another autonomous region.

 

"We have attacked their bases and took control of their barracks. Our forces are now in full control of the Galgala Mountains and the enemy fled the area suffering heavy losses," Qeyr told reporters.

 

"We have killed more than 10 of them and took several of them as prisoners," he said, adding that there was a casualty toll on the Puntland side but that it was "not a heavy one".

 

Residents confirmed that there had been fighting for around four hours, causing casualties on both sides.

 

"We have seen seven combatants from the two sides who were killed in the fighting but it is not yet clear who is fully controlling the contested areas," said Mohamed Bashir, an elder.

 

Another resident, Said Hussein, also said seven people were killed.

 

A senior medic at the Bossasso hospital said that 15 injured Puntland soldiers were admitted and that one had died of his injuries.

 

Puntland forces launched their first attack on Mohamed Said Atom's forces on July 26.

 

The warlord has been singled out by the UN Security Council for violating an arms embargo and is believed to be a key supplier of arms to the Al-Qaeda-inspired Shebab group that controls much of the rest of Somalia.

 

Puntland officials said the remote mountains risked becoming an ideal hide-out for Somalia's growing Shebab-hosted contingent of foreign jihadis, akin to Afghanistan's Tora Bora mountains.

[Qandalawi]

Official: 17 killed in clashes in northeast Somalia

By the CNN Wire Staff

 

(CNN) -- Heavy clashes between security forces and militants left at least 17 people dead and seven others wounded, according to the security minster of the semi-autonomous region of Puntland in northern Somalia.

 

"We have lost two soldiers and seven others have been wounded while we killed fifteen fighters from the militants in ... fighting" said Yusaf Ahmed Kheyr, Puntland's security minister who spoke to local journalists in Bosaso.

 

The minister labeled the group his forces battled as terrorists, including foreign fighters from the corners of the world, and he described the area where the clashes happened as a rugged and mountainous large area of valleys.

 

Kheyr said that the fighting still continues.

 

A journalist in Puntland said that fighting was so heavy that the sound of artillery used in the fighting could be heard as far as in the port city of Bosaso which is at least 40 kilometers (25 miles) away from the area where the fighting took place.

 

The militant group Al-Shabaab has denied that it has been involved in recent fighting in Puntland, but said the group supports it.

 

Journalist Mohamed Amiin contributed to this report for CNN.

[Qandalawi]

Puntland forces attack al-Shabab in Somali mountains

map

 

Forces from Somalia's northern Puntland region have attacked a cell of al-Shabab militants, officials say.

 

Puntland President Abdirahman Sheik Mohamed says the security forces killed 13 Islamist fighters after they attacked an army post near the commercial capital, Bosasso.

 

The mountain raid was the first time Puntland's forces have clashed with al-Shabab, analysts say.

 

The al-Qaeda-linked group controls much of southern and central Somalia.

 

At least two members of Puntland's security forces were also killed in the clashes in the mountains near Galgalo.

 

Puntland is semi-autonomous from the rest of Somalia but is allied to the embattled, UN-backed government in Mogadishu.

 

The Puntland authorities have recently rounded up and deported hundreds of young men in Bosasso and sent them to Mogadishu, accusing them of being al-Shabab sympathisers.

 

 

----Source: BBC

[Qandalawi]

Somalia: Puntland forces conquer militants hideout "Galgala"

9 Aug 9, 2010 - 4:50:53 AM

 

Authorities in Somalia’s semi-autonmous state of Puntland say its forces have successfully captured Galgala Mountains in the war against militants linked to Al-Qaeda-inspired Al-Shabaab.

 

The army launched the offensive more than a week ago to annihilate the militants, led by Mohamed Said Atom, who is on a UN Security Council watch list, from the mountainous region, which they wanted to transform it into African Tora Bora.

 

Authorities said that in offensives, the dozens of militants were killed, bringing a level of calm to the mountainous region. It is not however clear the exact figure of casualties from the clashes.

 

Reports indicate that security forces are carrying out security operations while sporadic gunfire can still be heard in the far areas.

 

Garowe Online will bring every details of this developing story as soon as it gets out.

 

GAROWE ONLINE