US President Joe Biden has nominated Richard Riley to be the next US Ambassador to Somalia, according to the Somali National News Agency. Riley will serve as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, replacing Larry Andre, who has served as the US Ambassador to Somalia since January 2022. Previously, Riley worked at the US embassies in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, the UK, China, Russia, and Yemen, the state news agency reported. This coincides with the surrender of Abdi Hassan Hulbaale, a senior al-Shabaab commander, to the Somali National Army. The army didn’t comment until Thursday on the “terrorist attack” which al-Shabaab carried out on Wednesday on a military base in Hiran, Mogadishu. The Movement announced that it attacked a military base in Bartiri, in the center of Mogadishu, leading to fierce clashes between al-Shabaab and the Somali forces and loyal tribal militias. Several prominent al-Shabaab leaders have recently surrendered to the army that threatened to eradicate the remnants of terrorists in the south and center of the country. Army officers told the state news agency that the “Khawarij militias” fled the region before the arrival of the forces that are advancing toward the few rural regions controlled by insurgents.