Military airstrike kills six senior Al-Shabaab ‘tax collectors’ in central Somalia
The Al-Shabaab terror group is fast losing revenue and men following sustained pressure by Somalia and its friends, who continue to undertake targeted elimination of key militants.
In the latest operation over the weekend, Al-Shabaab lost six senior tax collectors killed in an airstrike in Buuqaqable Town in central Somalia, as claimed today by the National Intelligence Security Agency (NISA).
The agency said the operation to kill the six was jointly conducted with the help of friends of Somalia and that the slain men were responsible for collecting illegal tax for Al-Shabaab in Somalia. Somalia has no military planes and depends on friendly States for support.
“NISA in coordination with friends of Somalia conducted an operation in Buuq-aqable town of Hiiran region to kill Al-Shabaab members who were blown up driving two cars after attending a training. This operation conducted on 28 January successfully eliminated terrorists whom we have been carefully monitoring their movement,” a NISA statement read before naming the six slain commanders.
The six are, Osman Ali Abdi, Jalalaqsi District Chief Tax Collector, Bulle Kabey who was in charge of transport in Middle Shabelle region, Mohamed Abukar, Chief Tax Collector of El-Ali town in Hiiran region, Abdisalaan, Chief Tax Collector of Middle Shabelle region, Maalim Yasin, Tax Collector, Shaw town, Hiiran region, Maalim Adan Fanah, Senior Tax Collection Coordinator for Al-Shabaab in Somalia.
The agency warned Al-Shabaab members that it would continue to hunt them down wherever they were.
The killing of the six coincides with a NISA cybercrime unit announcement yesterday confirming that it has successfully cracked down on and closed an Al-Shabaab criminal ring in Somalia responsible for spreading propaganda, intimidating people, and extorting money from the public.
Eastleighvoice
