MOGADISHU, Somalia security officers on Sunday nabbed more than 100 suspects in an operation that took place in the capital and its environs.

Security Ministry spokesman Mohamed Yusuf said the security forces carried out in collaboration with AMISOM forces raided several houses in Mogadishu to flush out Al-Shabaab suspects.

“We detained several people during major operations. We knew that some of them were planning to wage attacks against the population of Mogadishu,” Yusuf said late on Sunday.

Witnesses told Xinhua that the Sunday’s dawn operation carried out at villages in Mogadishu’s Waberi and Hamar-Jajab districts by the allied troops searched houses suspected to be hiding Al-Shabaab sympathizers.

The spokesman said the operation was well-orchestrated and came after a tip-off from members of the public, noting it was meant to beef up the security in the capital which has been experiencing terror attacks in the recent past.

“There are cooperation between the security forces and the residents and that help us to continue efforts to enhance the security,” he added.

Residents said government and African Union peacekeeping troops with heavily armed arrived at Waberi and Hamar Jajab districts and combed several houses in the villages to help flush out remnants of the militants.

“They conducted a house-to-house search and arrested several people from our district,” a resident Abdimalik Isse told Xinhua.

Government and AMISOM forces are always conducting security operations to prevent militants from launching attacks, but Al-Qaida affiliated group Al-Shabaab which is battling federal government is still able to wage attacks in the country.

source: Xinhua