Somali forces have arrested over 200 suspected militants during a security sweep in the capital of Mogadishu, a police official says.
Government forces and African Union troops raided homes and shops of suspected militants in the capital on Tuesday, said Col. Ahmed Ali, a senior police official, Wednesday.
“The operation will continue until we stop terrorist attacks,” Ali said, while referring to a wave of militant attacks across the seaside city.
The development comes as al-Shabab fighters are active in Somalia.
The group launched a major armed assault against the presidential palace and managed to penetrate the heavily-fortified complex on July 8, . Several people were killed during the raid.
Initially, the premises came under attack in February when the al-Shabab fighters, who were dressed in Somali army uniforms, entered the complex with the use of a car bomb before being killed by guards.
In May, al-Shabab also launched a similar assault against the parliament while MPs were in a meeting. Several guards and staff were killed before security forces restored control.
Somalia has been the scene of clashes between government forces and al-Shabab fighters since 2006.
The al-Shabab fighters have been pushed out of the capital Mogadishu and other major cities in Somalia by the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), which is made up of troops from Uganda, Burundi, Djibouti, Sierra Leone and Kenya.
