MOGADISHU Somalia — AMISOM troops together with the Somali National Army have captured an assortment of weapons and ammunition from ‘al Shabaab’ suspects in the capital Mogadishu.

These were seized at the Asuman Atto Garage in Mogadishu town during a cordon and search operation conducted this morning.

The weapons recovered include 151 tortoise grenades, 238 Multi- Grenade Launchers, 43 boxes of 82 millimeter motor fuses, rocket propel grenade pipes as well as RPG shells and guns.

Also recovered were sniper riffles with attached telescopes, anti-tanker bombs and various types of guns and ammunition.

The AMISOM Force Commander Lt. Gen. Silas Ntigurirwa says such operations are part of the wider effort to improve security in Mogadishu and Somalia in general.

“Since we launched operation Eagle, we also launched the cordon and search in Mogadishu which is a bigger activity conducted by AMISOM troops, particularly sector one commander, which is occupied by UPDF forces, jointly, with the Somali National Army, with NISA and Somali people,” he said.

Lt. Gen. Silas Ntigurirwa further noted that some of the weaponry captured was already assembled and loaded for use and could have been used to cause extensive harm to the Somali people.

“Today we conducted a cordon and search in Mogadishu and we captured a lot of military equipment, which you can see here and some of it was already fixed, for example, you can see this ammunition which was already fixed to be used this night.

“Because of our cooperation, we captured all of them, we have also a cargo there, with a lot of ammunition, bombs and there are many guns there.

“I think this is a good sign which shows the international community, which assures the Federal Government of Somalia and the Somali people that very soon, Somali will get peace and security,” he added.

The Sector Commander Brig. Dick Olum applauded the Somali people for providing key intelligence information that has facilitated frustration of several attacks by the ‘al Shabaab’.

He however called for vigilance, warning that ‘al Shabaab’ terrorists easily blend into communities and may not be easily identified.

“As the sector one commander, there is no ‘al Shabaab’ on whose chest has been written that am al Shabaab.

“No al Shabaab has been written that am al ‘al Shabaab’.

“‘al Shabaab’ uses equipment from anybody, even if it is equipment from AMISOM, if ‘al Shabaab’ gets it, they will use it.

“This was an intelligence tip to the sector one, to the AMISOM forces and we went and found it.

“Look at the bombs, those 120 millimeter bombs can be used for making IEDs.

“It doesn’t matter where it comes from it still an ‘al Shabaab’ equipment,” he said.

The AMISOM leadership has pledged to ensure continued vigilance and cooperation with the Somali National Army and the Somalis in general, to ensure that all elements of terrorism are defeated.

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