In the month of November, Al Shabaab remains a strong regional actor amid ongoing Somali government operations.
The government continued the ‘total war’ with high intensity attacks on al Shabaab positions, capturing and neutralizing more militants including ranking commanders.
Operations targeting Al shabaab intensified in January from both Somali government and international partners.
Al Shabaab will likely face crushing force and total pressure in the coming days following the decision of the frontline states mainly Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti to send additional forces in Somalia.
Al Shabaab continues to hold and control diminishing territories in Central and Southern Somalia.
Al Shabaab has been cleared away from strategic coastal areas. The group now occupies some interior remote positions in the central region opening up the transportation routes, especially to the Capital Mogadishu.