30 Shebab killed in two clashes in Somalia, say officials

Nairobi, Mar 17: Thirty insurgents in Somalia's Al-Qaeda-aligned Shebab jihadist group were killed in heavy clashes in the south and northeast of the country, Kenya's armed forces and local authorities said separately.

In the first incident, the Kenya Defence Force (KDF) yesterday said it had thwarted an assault on a military camp at Afmadhow in the Lower Juba area in southern Somalia, killing 19 rebels and seizing a haul of weapons.

Kenyan troops operating under the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) mission "foiled a planned attack" near the camp, operated by the Somali National Army (SNA) and AMISOM, the KDF said in a statement. "The... terrorists had approached the camp at night with the intent to attack and cut off the SNA from the AMISOM KDF camp," it said.

"KDF soldiers on patrol identified the militants and engaged them in a fierce battle. The (Shebab) attempted to fight back, but were swiftly repulsed by the KDF soldiers on patrol and those at the camp," it said, quoting army spokesman David Obonyo. "Following the incident, 19 (Shebab) militants were killed and one technical vehicle destroyed.

Some of the arms and ammunition recovered include 10 AK 47 rifles and three rocket-propelled grenades." In a separate incident yesterday, troops in Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region killed 11 Shebab in heavy fighting in villages on the northeastern coast, local authorities said.

The clashes came a day after around 100 insurgents sought to take control of the villages of Garmal and Suuj, near the port of Eyl, a pirate hotspot, local officials and residents said.

"Puntland forces have attacked elements of the Shebab group who have attacked coastal villages in the Puntland region in order to destabilise the area," Mohamud Hassan, the Puntland administration's information minister, said at a press conference.

"Eleven of the fighters were killed in the fighting and the rest are surrounded now," he said, adding that the clean-up operation was still ongoing. It was not immediately possible to independently verify the information. Residents in the Eyl district said the Shebab arrived in the villages in fishing boats.

They seized Garmal late Tuesday and then took up positions in Suuj village where the fighting yesterday was "very heavy", said Ali Weli, a resident.

AFP