Large number of the Somali National Army (SNA) and local defense forces known as Ma’awisley have reached in Mahaas district in Hiiraan province and are preparing to launch an assault on Al-Shabab fighters who are currently stationed in Moqokori district.
Officers of the Somali National Army (SNA) particularly the Command of the 21st and 27th Division that are based in Dhuusamareeb and Beledweyne towns have arrived in Mahaas in which they are mobilizing the troops. The objective of the troops is to prevent Al-shabab to launch an attack on Mahaas and to dislodge Al-Shabab from Moqokori district in which they captured on last Monday.
Mahaas will be a battlefield unless the Somali troops liberate Moqokori district which lies on the border that Hiiraan province shares with Middle Shabelle province. Reliable sources say that the Somali military officers are organizing troops into two parts. The first part will reinforce the defense lines in Mahaas while the second part will be responsible for the liberation of Moqokori district.
Those who are given the responsibility to defend Mahaas will prevent Al-Shabab to sneak into Mahaas as a lesson was learned of what happened in Moqokori district. Al-Shabab launched large scale fighting on Moqokori district on July 7, 2025 while the most of the Somali troops travelled El-Qoohle settlement in Moqokori district in order to drive out Al-Shabab from the settlement which they capture on June 29, 2025.
Reports say that the Somali military officers are awaiting troops that they will reinforce the offensive. The troops are being mobilized and organized in military barracks in Mogadishu and are due to reach Hiiraan region soon. Reports further indicate that the Somali Military Command have prepared weapons and ammunitions which be transported to Hiiraan province in a bid to satisfy the local residents in the province who criticized the Somali Federal Gov’t for dragging its feet on the war with Al-Shabab.
Most of the troops that are currently stationed in Mahaas are the local defense forces referred to as Ma’awisley. It is believed that at least 800 of the local defense forces known as Ma’awisley are currently based in Mahaas.
Among them are those in which the Somali Federal Gov’t registered as local defense forces and new ones who are reinforcing the troops who will launch the operation and are against the expansion of Al-Shabab in the East of Hiiraan province. The objective of the troops is to eliminate the threat in which Al-Shabab will launch a raid on Mahaas.
The Somali Federal Gov’t is pushing to thwart Al-Shabab’s attempts to launch an assault on Mahaas in order to open the road that goes to the East of Galguduud province.
Somali Military officers who are currently in Mahaas say that the mobilization of troops that were underway in the district is being completed in order to launch an offensive against Al-Shabab fighters that are stationed in the outskirts of Moqokori district. The Somali troops will prevent Al-shabab’s plan which is not to get a route that they can travel within Middle Shabelle, Hiiraan and Galguduud provinces,
Al-Shabab’s main goal is to gain control of Mahaas which ensures that Al-Shabab fighters can a get a route that they can travel back and forth within Hirshabelle and Galmudug states. Mahaas locates the place where Al-shabab can cross to the East of Galguduud province in which El-Buur town lies. Without this route, it will be hard to get a route that is easy and peaceful.
Al-Shabab know that it will be hard to easily reach the East of Galguduud province if Mahaas is not under their control. Al-Shabab are conducting movements in Moqokori district and it is possible that they will launch an attack on Mahaas before Somali troops attack them. The Somali Federal Gov’t and the Military Command understand that the losing control of Mahaas will be the end of the achievements of the second phase of liberation operations in which the Somali troops commenced in Hirshabelle and Galmudug states three years ago. Therefore, the expansion of Al-shabab in the two states will lead losing control of remaining settlements in which Al-Shabab were dislodged in 2022 and 2023.
