The leaders of Somalia and neighboring countries vowed at a summit held on Wednesday, February 1, 2023, to “make the final push” against Al-Shabaab as a wide-ranging offensive against the militants gathers pace.
Kenya’s William Ruto, Djibouti’s Ismail Omar Guelleh and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed attended the summit hosted by Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in the capital Mogadishu.
They discussed a coordinated military offensive against the Al-Qaeda-linked group, which has been waging an insurgency in the troubled Horn of Africa nation for more than 15 years.
“The summit agrees to make the final push for joint operations in the areas that remain under the terrorists to completely liberate the whole of Somalia from Al-Shabaab,” the leaders said in a statement released after the meeting.