Al-shabaab lose key sites to UPDF
THE sound of the 12.7mm general purpose machine gun by a UPDF gunner at State House, Mogadishu is heard several buildings away. The gun set on the third floor is a sign of ANISOM's superiority over the Al-Shabaab.
By Joshua Kato
in Mogadishu
THE sound of the 12.7mm general purpose machine Gun by a UPDF gunner at State House, Mogadishu is heard several buildings away. The gun is set on the third floor of the western wing of the State House.
“He is firing at the enemy around Bondere,†said Lt. Col. Michael Ondoga, the commander of the Ugandan contingent in Somalia.
The soldiers are not moved by the firing; it is a normal activity! Bondere was captured by joint forces from AMISOM (African Union Mission in Somalia) and the Somali Transitional Government a few days ago.
However, al-Shabaab snipers are now using a building about a kilometre away to harass the joint forces occupying Bondere, a key position in defending the State House.
The outpost in the centre of the bombed-out Somali capital is one of the strategic areas that have been captured by the joint forces in the last few days.
The al-Shabaab have tried to recapture it but failed with heavy casualties. The latest attempt was on Wednesday.
“We killed many of them when they attacked us,†said AMISOM spokesman Maj. Bahoku Barigye.
The State House is one of the most heavily guarded positions in Mogadishu. There are at least four main battle tanks, in addition to over 10 armoured personnel carriers.
Heavy machine guns and several cannons grace every level of the rectangular building.
“We have to defend this location at all costs because it would be a big embarrassment if they captured it,†said Odonga.
AMISOM forces have made significant strategic gains in the last few months. They now control the key area around Bondere, the Juba Hotel, a tall building formerly used to launch rockets towards the African Union positions that included the airport and port.
The joint forces are also in control of Uruba Hotel, another site the al-Shabaab militants were using to launch their projectiles.
“Before we captured these locations, our positions were shelled almost every hour by the enemy,†said Lt. Col. Francis Chemonges, the sector commander in charge of Bondere, State House, Uruba Hotel and Juba Hotel.
Around Juba Hotel, the Islamist militants can now only ‘snipe’ at the AMISOM forces, after they were chased away a few weeks ago.
Over 50 of the terrorists died in the battle for the burnt-out hotel. Their bodies were buried in the hotel compound.
“We found fresh bodies here,†said Maj. Willy Mutungi, the contingent intelligence officer.
Like the case with Bondere, the snipers are about a kilometre away. In ordinary terms, 1km is a short distance.
However, in military terms, it is quite a long distance since the entire stretch is covered by buildings - dilapidated as they may be.
Juba Hotel is another heavily guarded place, with several battle tanks around it. On every floor of the over 10-storey building, the UPDF has placed an assortment of guns and cannons.
“You see this hole here?†asks Maj. Mutungi, “They were being used by the enemy to fire at us. However, we also dug our own holes and soon, the enemy snipers were no more.â€
The rebels can still fire at the forces from the top of another building about a kilometre away.
“But that will also be neutralised, thanks to a newly-positioned 20mm cannon. When they come back to fire at us, we shall demolish them into smithrens,†Mutungi said. Apparently, there are not many sharp snipers among the al-Shabaab. So, the few good ones keep on rotating from one position to another to incovenience the UPDF.
At the former Uruba Hotel, AMISOM gunners are regularly engaged in fire exchanges with the Somali insurgents. About 500 metres away from the hotel, along the ocean coastline, this reporter saw the al-Shabaab fighters resting on pick-up trucks with a machine-gun mounted on it.
“They fired at us this morning. But we returned with heavier fire and stopped them,†Chemonges said.
The situation is so calm that many of the soldiers are watching football on a newly-installed LCD flat screen.
Kilometer 4, or K-4 as the roundabout on the outskirts of the city is known, is also in UPDF hands.
“We are here because this area is very strategic,†said Ondoga.
It is easy to see why; this is the intersection of the roads to State House, the road to the seaport, to the airport and to the main university complex.
AMISOM forces now control several key buildings around K-4 as a buffer zone.
“They (insurgents) have tried to recapture this place but every time they do, they die in huge numbers,†said Ondoga.
The last time they attacked was on Saturday morning, shortly before this reporter visited the area. But like in the other cases, they were beaten off and they retreated.
in Mogadishu
THE sound of the 12.7mm general purpose machine Gun by a UPDF gunner at State House, Mogadishu is heard several buildings away. The gun is set on the third floor of the western wing of the State House.
“He is firing at the enemy around Bondere,†said Lt. Col. Michael Ondoga, the commander of the Ugandan contingent in Somalia.
The soldiers are not moved by the firing; it is a normal activity! Bondere was captured by joint forces from AMISOM (African Union Mission in Somalia) and the Somali Transitional Government a few days ago.
However, al-Shabaab snipers are now using a building about a kilometre away to harass the joint forces occupying Bondere, a key position in defending the State House.
The outpost in the centre of the bombed-out Somali capital is one of the strategic areas that have been captured by the joint forces in the last few days.
The al-Shabaab have tried to recapture it but failed with heavy casualties. The latest attempt was on Wednesday.
“We killed many of them when they attacked us,†said AMISOM spokesman Maj. Bahoku Barigye.
The State House is one of the most heavily guarded positions in Mogadishu. There are at least four main battle tanks, in addition to over 10 armoured personnel carriers.
Heavy machine guns and several cannons grace every level of the rectangular building.
“We have to defend this location at all costs because it would be a big embarrassment if they captured it,†said Odonga.
AMISOM forces have made significant strategic gains in the last few months. They now control the key area around Bondere, the Juba Hotel, a tall building formerly used to launch rockets towards the African Union positions that included the airport and port.
The joint forces are also in control of Uruba Hotel, another site the al-Shabaab militants were using to launch their projectiles.
“Before we captured these locations, our positions were shelled almost every hour by the enemy,†said Lt. Col. Francis Chemonges, the sector commander in charge of Bondere, State House, Uruba Hotel and Juba Hotel.
Around Juba Hotel, the Islamist militants can now only ‘snipe’ at the AMISOM forces, after they were chased away a few weeks ago.
Over 50 of the terrorists died in the battle for the burnt-out hotel. Their bodies were buried in the hotel compound.
“We found fresh bodies here,†said Maj. Willy Mutungi, the contingent intelligence officer.
Like the case with Bondere, the snipers are about a kilometre away. In ordinary terms, 1km is a short distance.
However, in military terms, it is quite a long distance since the entire stretch is covered by buildings - dilapidated as they may be.
Juba Hotel is another heavily guarded place, with several battle tanks around it. On every floor of the over 10-storey building, the UPDF has placed an assortment of guns and cannons.
“You see this hole here?†asks Maj. Mutungi, “They were being used by the enemy to fire at us. However, we also dug our own holes and soon, the enemy snipers were no more.â€
The rebels can still fire at the forces from the top of another building about a kilometre away.
“But that will also be neutralised, thanks to a newly-positioned 20mm cannon. When they come back to fire at us, we shall demolish them into smithrens,†Mutungi said. Apparently, there are not many sharp snipers among the al-Shabaab. So, the few good ones keep on rotating from one position to another to incovenience the UPDF.
At the former Uruba Hotel, AMISOM gunners are regularly engaged in fire exchanges with the Somali insurgents. About 500 metres away from the hotel, along the ocean coastline, this reporter saw the al-Shabaab fighters resting on pick-up trucks with a machine-gun mounted on it.
“They fired at us this morning. But we returned with heavier fire and stopped them,†Chemonges said.
The situation is so calm that many of the soldiers are watching football on a newly-installed LCD flat screen.
Kilometer 4, or K-4 as the roundabout on the outskirts of the city is known, is also in UPDF hands.
“We are here because this area is very strategic,†said Ondoga.
It is easy to see why; this is the intersection of the roads to State House, the road to the seaport, to the airport and to the main university complex.
AMISOM forces now control several key buildings around K-4 as a buffer zone.
“They (insurgents) have tried to recapture this place but every time they do, they die in huge numbers,†said Ondoga.
The last time they attacked was on Saturday morning, shortly before this reporter visited the area. But like in the other cases, they were beaten off and they retreated.