MOGADISHU (SD) – Joint operations by Somali military and Amisom had resulted in the militants losing ground in central and southern Somalia, African Union mission in Somalia said Tuesday.

In a statement, the Mission’s Force Commander, Lt Gen. Diomede Ndegeya said operations to degrade Al-Shabaab in southern Somalia had resulted in the militants losing ground against AMISOM and the Somali security forces.

“The objective of the visit was to see for myself the situation in AMISOM’s area of responsibility and assess the progress made in implementing the AMISOM mandate in line with the Somalia Transition Plan and the harmonized operation plan. Secondly, I came to assess the level of security preparedness ahead of the upcoming electoral process,” Ndegeya.

The AMISOM Sector 2 commander, Brig Gen. Nyagah, said that they had briefed Lt. Gen. Ndegeya on the security situation and progress made to implement the Somalia Transition Plan ahead of the envisaged transfer of security responsibility to Somali security forces.

“We have appraised the Force Commander on the overall security situation in our respective areas of operation. Most importantly, we assessed progress made around the Somali Transition Plan, where AMISOM is supposed to gradually hand over security responsibilities to the Somali security forces. We also discussed the role of AMISOM in the forthcoming elections, which are critical to the stability of Somalia,” added Brig. Nyagah.

The Force Commander paid a courtesy visit to the Jubaland State’s Minister of Security, Gen. Yussuf Hussein Dhumaal, who hailed the cooperation and support of AMISOM forces as important to success in defeating Al Shabaab.

“Our discussions focused on operations against the Al-Shabaab with a view to liberate the areas still under their control, especially the Middle Jubba region and surrounding towns. We agreed to speed up operations and collaborate at all levels,” said Gen. Dhumaal.