Sunday September 14, 2025
Jubbaland security forces patrol a forested area near Raaskambooni in Lower Juba during an operation against al-Shabab on Sept. 14, 2025. The raid, led by the Hanqadh unit, targeted militant hideouts in the Badhaadhe district. / Supplied photo
Kismayo (HOL) — Jubbaland security forces mounted a major operation Sunday in Raaskambooni, Lower Juba, to disrupt al-Shabab activity and block planned militant attacks on military bases and other key sites.
The Hanqadh unit of the National Intelligence and Security Agency led the raid, sweeping through several villages in the forested Raaskambooni area of Badhaadhe district. Security officials said troops recovered medicine and other supplies believed to have been abandoned by al-Shabab fighters.
Commanders said the mission was based on intelligence that al-Shabab was preparing coordinated assaults on government positions in the region.
The offensive fits into a wider campaign by Jubbaland authorities to press deeper into militant-held areas of southern Somalia. Darawish fighters and intelligence officers have been moving steadily through the scrublands of Lower Juba and Gedo, striking at makeshift hideouts tucked away in villages and forests. Military leaders said these raids are meant to cut al-Shabab’s lines of movement and reassure weary communities that the state is inching closer to reclaiming control.