The President of the Federal Republic of Somalia, Mr. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, today arrived in the city of Harardhere in the Mudug region, marking his first visit since the area’s liberation from Al-Shabaab militants a year ago.
President Hassan Sheikh was accompanied by a high-level delegation including Galmudug President Ahmed Abdi Kariye Qor-Qor, federal ministers of defense and interior affairs, military officers, and members of parliament. The presidential party traveled to Harardhere by helicopter from Mogadishu.
Upon arriving in the long-embattled city, the president addressed a public gathering, praising residents for courageously defending their homes against an Al-Shabaab attack just last week that the terrorists were decisively defeated in.
“Our country today has set foot on the path of development and social growth. This has been made possible by you who are standing day and night to defend the country, the Haradhere community, especially the heroes of the civil defense and the Armed Forces, and Somali people in general,” President Hassan Sheikh told the crowd.
Harardhere had been a strategic Al-Shabaab stronghold straddling the Galgudud and Mudug regions before its hard-won liberation last year. The president vowed that government services and security would now be restored in the city.
Later, President Hassan Sheikh’s tour took him to the Eeldheer district of neighboring Galgudud region, where he met with government forces battling the terrorist insurgents and encouraged them to keep fighting.
The visits come just after Somalia ratified the first four chapters of its new constitution, allowing the president to reassert command over the military’s operations against Al-Shabaab.
The triumphant tour highlighted the federal government’s determination to reclaim territories long held by the militants and bring stability to areas devastated by years of conflict and insurgency.
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