Somalia: at least 19 dead after a double attack claimed by the shebabs

A Somali soldier on patrol, October 19, 2016. REUTERS / Feisal Omar

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A car bomb attack claimed by the Shebabs took place on Wednesday morning January 4 in Somalia, in the center of the country. 

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Two vehicles exploded near the Mahas military base in Hiran province.

According to a provisional report, 19 people are dead and fifty are injured, according to Mohamed Moalim Adan, commander of a local militia allied with the power, who specifies that the victims are soldiers and civilians.

In this part of the country, the Somali army and clan militias have been leading an offensive against the Shebabs for several months.

The government

A "

" in which the authorities rely on the support of local communities in the province of Hiran, a region located about 300 km from Mogadishu, the capital, where the shebabs have lost ground in recent months.

For Omar Mahmood, an analyst at the International Crisis Group (ICG), attacks like today's are part of the Al-Shabaab's strategy to curb the advances of the Somali army and show that they are still capable of perform deadly attacks in the areas they have lost. 

According to the analyst, as long as the authorities' offensive continues, we can expect more deadly attacks in retaliation.

On October 29, in the deadliest attack in Somalia in five years, two car bombs killed 121 people in Mogadishu and injured hundreds more. 

The Somali president announced that

, would soon be deployed in operations against the Shebabs.

► See also Somalia: populations between drought and jihadism

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• Somalia

• Shebabs