Embed Notice

From a purely military perspective, it is amazing how the Somali forces appear to have not stepped into the "drone age".

Much like the SAA did, they rely on mass of (artillery) fire as well as airpower and numbers (maneuver units) to "win". These military tactics are from 20 years ago (based on both Soviet and Western doctrines).

HTS ("ex"-AQ) took advantage of this weakness in their lightning offensive that ended Assad's rule. Drones were used extensively to monitor and attack enemy positions.

If the Somali government did use drones (for recon, at least), they would have seen Al-Shabaab militants hiding in the bushes on either side of the road.

Meanwhile, there is some info out there that Al-Shabaab actively uses drones for recon (although apparently they can't kit them out for attack.....yet).

https://gnet-research.org/2023/07/05/drone-use-by-violent-extremist-organisations-in-africa-a-case-study-of-al-shabaab/#:~:text=Drone%20Use%20by%20al%2DShabaab&text=Reports%20indicate%20that%20between%202018,to%20use%20them%20in%20attacks.