MOGADISHU [SMN] – The Al-Shabaab group launched an attack on Tuesday morning in the Masagaway area of the Galgaduud region, where the Somali military was stationed.
Al-Shabaab claims to have taken over the small town from the SNA and killed scores of soldiers trained by Eritrea during the clashes. However, the Somali government said that the SNA prevented the attack.
In a statement, the Ministry of Information said that a number of militants behind the ambush were killed on the spot and some fled with wounds.
The government said that the armed forces were aware of the Al-Shabaab attack after getting a tip-off and intelligence information regarding the plot.
Masagaway is located in the central region of Galgadud and home to a military base since its seizure in January this year. It’s 250km away from the capital Mogadishu.
It was a few days ago when al-Shabaab attacked the ATMIS army base in the Buulo Mareer town, approximately 120 km south of Mogadishu, where Uganda troops were based for over 15 years.
The Al-Qaeda-linked group intensified attacks on both AU and Somali military bases in recent months after it lost control of territories in rural areas to government forces.
