Mogadishu, (Idil News) – Al Shabaab militants seized several villages near Cadale in Somalia’s Middle Shabelle region on Saturday, intensifying their hold on the area and prompting a desperate appeal from Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud for Ethiopian military support, local sources and officials said.
The Islamist militia overran the villages of Bursha Sheekh, Ceel Xarar, and Xaruur, located near the strategic town of Cadale, approximately 70 kilometers northeast of Mogadishu. The rapid advance marks a significant escalation in Al Shabaab’s campaign against the UN-backed fragile federal government, raising fears that the insurgents could threaten and capture of Mogadishu.
Somali National Army (SNA) forces, already stretched thin, struggled to repel the assault, according to local reports. With the government’s defenses faltering, Mogadishu has turned to its neighbor Ethiopia for urgent reinforcements.
Residents claimed where Ethiopia was deploying “thousands of troops” to Middle Shabelle to counter the militants’ advance.
In a striking development, Ethiopia conducted airstrikes targeting Al Shabaab bases in Middle Shabelle on Friday, Somali Defense Minister Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur confirmed. The strikes, reportedly carried out with MIG jets, marked Ethiopia’s first known aerial operation in Somalia in nearly two decades, since its 2006 intervention against the Islamic Courts Union.
The Ethiopian airstrikes and potential troop deployment signal a significant shift in Addis Ababa’s role in Somalia’s long-running conflict with Al Shabaab, an Al Qaeda-affiliated group that has waged a brutal insurgency since 2007. Ethiopia, which contributes thousands of troops to the African Union mission in Somalia (currently transitioning to AUSSOM), has historically focused on ground operations rather than air campaigns in recent years.
The Somali government’s plea for help highlights a stark reality: its own military, despite years of international support, remains ill-equipped to halt Al Shabaab’s resurgence. The group’s latest offensive follows a pattern of exploiting weaknesses in SNA defenses, particularly in south and central Somalia, where it has repeatedly sought to disrupt vital highways and reassert control over cleared areas.
Security experts warn that Ethiopia’s intervention, while potentially stabilizing in the short term, raises questions about sustainability. “Who will bear the financial burden of a prolonged operation?” asked Abdiwahab Sheikh, a Horn of Africa security expert in Mogadishu. “Ethiopia’s involvement could tip the scales, but it depends on consistent coordination and resources—both of which have been lacking in past campaigns.”
Residents of Jowhar, the regional capital of Middle Shabelle, reported hearing explosions on Friday, with one local shopkeeper, Halima Yusuf, describing the strikes as “more precise” than previous attacks. Saturday’s village seizures, however, suggest that Al Shabaab remains resilient despite the aerial bombardment.
The escalating crisis comes as Somalia prepares for the full rollout of the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) later this year, intended to bolster Somali forces against the insurgents. Yet with Al Shabaab tightening its grip closer to Mogadishu, the federal government faces mounting pressure to prove it can secure its territory—or risk ceding further ground to the militants.