Monday February 1, 2021
MOGADISHU (HOL) - Jubbaland security minister Abdirashid Janan has reiterated his threats to attack Bele-Hawo again after his forces were defeated by federal troops last month.
Janan told BBC Somali Service his forces were massing up to launch another attack on Bele-Hawo and urged residents to vacate the town ahead of the offensive.
The embattled minister had made the same threats last week after his forces engaged in a deadly fight with federal troops that resulted in the death of 11 people among them five children of the same family.Asked where he was, Janan claimed to be in Dhuhun-dhurwaa area which is located in Kenya’s Mandera county but Janan said the area was inside Somalia.
IGAD fact-finding team last week said Janan forces were inside Somalia but the Federal Government which dismissed the report said the forces were inside Kenya.
Credible sources who spoke to HOL alleged that Janan was in Kenya’s capital Nairobi.
Janan also dismissed the assertion by the Federal Government that it captured 250 Janan forces during the January fight in Belet-Hawo.
According to Janan, the federal government captured 21 soldiers only while 16 others had defected.
The wanted minister also claimed that the Somali National Army used armoured personnel carrier (APCs) donated by Turkey.