MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – Somalia’s government secretly deployed US-trained Danab special forces equipped with sophisticated weapons in the town of Guriel to join the fight against Ahlu Sunnah fighters, former Galmudug security minister Ahmed Moalim Fiqi said on Tuesday.
It came days after a senior military commander with the US-trained elite force died in the gun battle after the Sufi group’s fighters launched a counter-attack to quell army’s advance on Saturday.
Fiqi says the special forces stationed in Bellidogle base were secretly loaded on to planes that brought injured soldiers from the town of Dhusamareb.
“Those soldiers are members of the elite force tasked with the fight against Al-Shabaab,” he said, adding: “They are armed with mines used to destroy concrete buildings… and other modern weapons.”
The comments have come hours after regional president Ahmed Qoorqoor stressed that his administration will not accept the efforts to divide the state steered by the leadership of the rival side and blamed the war raging in the region on foreign and local parties, though he did not name them.
Ahmed Moalim Fiqi resigned this month after regional president refused to pay heed to his calls not to launch an attack against Ahlu Sunnah group. Somaliguardian has not been able to verify his claims independently.
Contact us: info@somaliguardian.com
