The Somali army and allied clan militias successfully repelled a series of coordinated attacks by the militant group al-Shabab, killing more than 130 fighters in the south of the country, the government said on Thursday.
Using explosives-packed vehicles, the insurgents raided four villages in the Middle Shabelle region early Thursday morning. The militants briefly captured two villages before being driven out in intense fighting, according to local residents and the defense ministry.
“The heroes of the national army and local people killed more than 130 al-Shabab fighters in an operation to defeat the enemy,” Somalia’s information ministry said in a statement.
Witnesses described the attack as highly coordinated and said al-Shabab used mortars, car bombs and intense gunfire. “They attacked from multiple directions,” said Nur Ibrahim, a local elder from the village of Ali Ahmed. He reported seeing the bodies of about 20 militants, along with seven martyred soldiers and clan fighters.