Somali National Army (SNA), in conjunction with Local forces drove out Al-Shabaab insurgents  from their refuge in the Cid-Cidka forest in Mahaday district of the Middle Shabelle region .
Following a series of bombings and airstrikes in recent weeks, members of the al-Shabaab group sought sanctuary in the forest.
Drones were used to strike the insurgents, while government forces and local militia carried out ground operations in the militants’ strongholds.
According to military authorities, the synchronized operation caused the insurgents to evacuate their positions in the forest .
Photographs taken in the forest area show the group digging multiple holes. This strategic concealment approach was one of the reasons it took so long to evict al-Shabab from the woodland. Last week, the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) and the Somali National Army (SNA), supported by the pro-government militia Ma’awisley, drove al-Shabab fighters from the central region’s Cali Fooldheere Forest. The ATMIS claimed the successful combined operation, which resulted in many deaths among the terrorists, came after days of an all-out ground and artillery attack to flush out al-Shabab extremists from their hiding in Cali Fooldheere Forest, which completed on Sunday
