Fighting between al-Shabaab and government and African Union (AU) troops in the central Galgaduud region has left 28 people dead on both sides, Somali officials said on Thursday.
Somali forces backed by AMISOM troops on Wednesday night raided Al-Shabaab military bases in the outskirt Elbuur town.
Elbuur district commissioner, Abdi Hassan who spoke to idalenews.com said 25 Al-Shabaab members had been killed, but gave no figures of any casualties on their side.
“Somali soldiers with the African Union killed25 Al-Shabaab fighters in the fight,” Musab said.
He said that heavy fighting took place the military bases in Budbud and Ulajarad localities which lay 75 km outside Elbuur.
Local resident Abdi Omar in Budbud village said there was a heavy exchange of fire which lasted for some hours.
“We heard the sound of heavy gunfire, we were unable to get outside,” he said.
He added ” Three dead bodies of Somali soldiers were seen in area”
Somalia has been the scene of deadly fighting between government forces and al-Shabab elements since 2006.
The militants have been pushed out of Mogadishu and other major cities by government troops and African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), which is largely made up of troops from Ethiopia, Uganda, Burundi, Djibouti, Sierra Leone, and Kenya.
Al-Shabaab members have, however, continued to carry out attacks in Mogadishu despite being driven out from their bases in the seaside city in 2011.
