Al-Shabaab hits Somali Army in major attack in El-Dheer but overestimates victory.

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Yesterday, the Salafist-jihadist group Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahidin conducted a large-scale attack against Somali special forces and government militias in the coastal town of El Dher, in the Galguduud region of central Somalia.

The group claimed responsibility for the attack in a lengthy statement, claiming heavy casualties in terms of lives and equipment. The statement also claimed that two officers with the rank of colonel were killed in the attack: Colonel Abdali Mahmoud Obaid and Colonel Younis Hassan Sabri.

The military leadership of the Al-Shabaab Mujahideen Movement stated the attack in Somali, translated into Arabic by the Shahada news agency, saying: “This Saturday morning, the Mujahideen launched radical attacks against apostate bases in the city of El-Dher, located east of the Galguduud region in central Somalia, the attack targeted four military bases, three of which were inside the city and the fourth on the outskirts”.

The statement added: “The Mujahideen launched their attack on the bases from several axes and, after a period of fighting, they were able to extend their control over the four bases. The enemy suffered heavy losses in terms of lives and equipment, and the initial casualty toll was 59 dead and more wounded”.

The conclusion of the statement reads: “The Mujahideen Youth Movement is fighting to preserve the security of the Muslim nation, implement Islamic law and rid Muslim homes of crusaders, apostates and others”.

The information disseminated by the Somali terrorist group is not fully confirmed. A government statement claimed that only five soldiers were killed in the al-Shabaab attack and that only one base was targeted, which was immediately recaptured after the terrorist attack.

The photos released by al-Kataib Media and the Shahada News Agency, the two al-Shabaab media outlets, seem to indirectly confirm the government version, as unlike previous photo reports, only five soldiers are shown dead in the photos, and indeed the images themselves only show a military camp.

It is likely, therefore, that the group overestimated the true extent of the attack and the results of it. Of course, this is quite normal as Salafist-jihadist terrorist groups frequently inflate the results and yield of their attacks.

Following the attack, the Somali terrorist group, an al-Qaeda affiliate in East Africa, released a lengthy photo report consisting of 33 pictures. Below is the complete reportage (excluding the photos showing the dead bodies:

Daniele Garofalo is a researcher and analyst on Jihadist Terrorism, Islamist Insurgents and Armed Groups. He is an expert in Monitoring Jihadist Media Channels and Islamist rebels and Armed Groups.

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