3. These developments appear to confirm the Monitoring Group’s previous assessment that military pressure in southern Somalia was inducing Al-Shabaab to shift its efforts northwards, where the remote and mountainous Golis range, “with its access to the Gulf of Aden and proximity to Yemen, may increasingly appear to be an attractive alternative to areas of southern Somalia where Al-Shabaab has recently been placed on the defensive.”[310] Indeed, Al-Shabaab activity in Puntland has been spreading beyond the Galgala highlands, where Atom established his base, into new areas, mainly to the south and east of Boosaaso.
3. These developments appear to confirm the Monitoring Group’s previous assessment that military pressure in southern Somalia was inducing Al-Shabaab to shift its efforts northwards, where the remote and mountainous Golis range, “with its access to the Gulf of Aden and proximity to Yemen, may increasingly appear to be an attractive alternative to areas of southern Somalia where Al-Shabaab has recently been placed on the defensive.”[310] Indeed, Al-Shabaab activity in Puntland has been spreading beyond the Galgala highlands, where Atom established his base, into new areas, mainly to the south and east of Boosaaso.