MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – Somalia’s army said on Friday it had seized several villages in the central regions of the Middle Shabelle and Hiran from the Al-Qaeda-aligned militant group Al-Shabaab.
Army spokesman General Abdullahi Anod said troops captured the village of El Hareeri in Hiran region after heavy fighting, adding that 100 militants had been killed. He confirmed that the army was supported by air strikes.
In a statement, Al-Shabaab said it had killed 36 government troops and allied militias in the fighting, saying that it had lost 8 fighters due to US air strikes. The group also claimed killing at least 23 soldiers in a suicide car bomb in the village of Towfiq in the Middle Shabelle region.
There has been no independence confirmation of the claims by both sides.
In weeks of military operations and air strikes, the Somali troops and clan militias captured a number of rural villages and towns in the central regions, though they have later vacated most of the recently recovered areas. Some of the areas have since changed hands multiple times between the two sides.
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