BELEDWEYNE, Somalia – The Somali National Army [SNA] clashed with Al-Shabaab militants in the central region of Hiiraan, where the current all-out war started last year.
The reports indicated that SNA along with local community fighters known as Ma’wisley attacked a key Al-Shabaab base located in an area, 50 kilometers away from Farlibah town.
The assault sparked a face-to-face gunfight between the two sides who used heavy and small weapons that inflicted casualties on both warring sides, according to the residents.
The military officials in the region claimed the upper hand in the fighting that lasted for several hours. As of now, the Details of the number of fatalities still remain unverified.
The SNA and their allied local clan militia took over the base from Al-Shabaab after overpowering the militants during the battle which comes amid intensified operations.
In August last year, the Somali government officially launched the long-awaited new phase of the campaign against al-Shabaab, al-Qaeda’s most powerful ally in East Africa.
As part of the operation, security forces have been targeting al-Shabaab’s main command centers in central Somalia after they failed to dislodge the militants from Hirshabelle and Galmudug states during the first phase of the counter-insurgency offensive and the expansion to Galmudug state.
In this initial stage, security forces regained control of over 100 locations and strongholds previously under al-Shabaab’s control in the two states. Al-Shabaab, however, regained lost territories as political disputes delayed the campaign’s second phase.
