BOSASO – Somalia’s semi-autonomous state Puntland forces have on Tuesday arrested tens of people on suspicion of Al Shabaab militants in security operation in Bosaso town.
The operation was conducted in villages of Bosaso town, the commercial hub of the region, following an assassination of a military officer, whose name identified as Shine in the town.
In phone interview with Mareeg Online, a policeman, Hamza Hussein, said that the crackdown had saw the arrests of tens of people, who were suspected to have links with Al Shabaab.
He says all detainees had been taken into police custody for further investigative interrogations.
“We carried out the operation and our police soldiers nabbed dozens of suspects. The operation was aimed at arresting unknown gunmen, who killed a military office in the town last night”, he said.
The murder of the military officer was claimed by Al Qaeda linked Al Shabaab group based in Somalia.
The resurgence is particularly notable in Puntland, a semi-autonomous part of northern Somalia where al-Shabaab has for a long time maintained a limited presence.
Significantly, over the last year, al-Shabaab has steadily intensified the tempo of its operations in the area, indicating the group is focusing its efforts on expanding its presence and influence in Puntland.
