Kenneth Mungai
Tuesday September 26, 2023
The Somali president (R) met US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin (L) on Sunday
The Somali government says its forces killed scores of al-Shabab militants just a day after a truck bomb killed at least 10 people in the central town of Beledweyne.
Deputy Information Minister Abdirahman Al-Adalah says the Somali army and local militia attacked the militant camp in Caad village in Galmudug state.
The number of al-Shabab fighters could not immediately be verified and the group has not issued any statement about the government’s claims.The government also says its forces have retaken villages from the jihadists in the western Hiiraan region.
It comes as President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud met US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin in Djibouti to discuss the fight against the al-Qaeda-linked group, which has waged an insurgency in Somalia for more than 15 years.
In recent months, the Somali government has intensified its military campaign against al-Shabab but has recently faced setbacks in the fight in central Somalia.
Somalia receives military, humanitarian and training support from the US, whose forces also help Somali troops by conducting air strikes against al-Shabab.
Mr Austin is on a three-nation tour of the continent. He has already visited Djibouti, where he met President Ismail Omar Guelleh and discussed regional security.
He is due in Kenya's capital on Monday to sign a defence agreement and then wind down his tour in Angola.
