Beledweyne, Hol General Odowaa Yusuf Rage, the commander of the Somali National Army, praised the security operations carried out by the Somali army that had expelled Al-Shabaab from a number of locations in the Hiiraan region.
General Odowaa has pledged that the government forces will protect the liberated territories from Al-Shabaab militants while he is now in the Hiiraan region along with the Minister of Defense and parliamentarians.
Odawa assured the citizens of the recently freed towns that Al-Shabaab would not be allowed to retake control of them.
In order to make it difficult for Al-Shabaab to return, he urged citizens to cooperate with government forces and give authorities information about the group.
In the Hiiraan region, where a fierce conflict has been raging between al Shabaab and government forces for several weeks, the Somali army took back a large number of previously held territory from al Shabaab.
Bukure, Lassaban, Oomad, Bagda, Qabno, and other small towns were taken by government forces earlier this month in the Mataban and Mahaas districts of the Hiiraan area.