Despite Billions in Aid, Somalia’s Army Crumbles as Al-Shabaab Resurgence Gains Ground, Donors Losing Faith – Garowe Online
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Despite billions of dollars in international support, Somalia’s army has melted in the face of a months-long offensive by the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab insurgency, and donors are running out of patience.
Using hundreds of fighters and a vehicle packed with explosives for a suicide attack, Al-Shabab retook the town of Moqokori on July 7, the latest in a wave of defeats this year for the government.
It has given them a strategic geographical position to launch attacks into the Hiiraan region. Still, it was also a powerful symbolic victory over a local clan militia that had been the government’s “best fighting force” against Al-Shabab, according to Omar Mahmood of the International Crisis Group.
