Somali army kills 11 militants in central region

The Somali National Army (SNA), backed by Galmudug state forces, has killed 11 members of the al-Shabab fighters in a fierce clash in the central region, an official said on Wednesday.

Al-Shabab militants were repelled by SNA forces when they launched an attack on Tuesday on a military base in the Shabellow area of Mudug, in the central part of the country, Galmudug State Information Minister Ahmed Shire told Xinhua.

Shire added that government forces had lost a number of soldiers including two military commanders during the clashes.

The latest clashes happened amid sustained operations by the government forces against al-Shabab fighters in the central and southern regions, where the militants still control swathes of the rural areas, conducting ambushes and planting landmines.

Mujahideen Youth Movement’ or ‘Movement of Striving Youth’, more commonly known as al-Shabaab is a terrorist, jihadist fundamentalist group based in East Africa and Yemen.

The group has been suspected of having links with al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb and Boko Haram.

Al-Shabaab has been designated as a terrorist organisation by Australia, Canada, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

As of June 2012, the U.S. State Department had open bounties on several of the group’s senior commanders. (Xinhua/NAN)