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Somalia says it killed 27 Al-Shabaab militants with international support
Al-Shabaab militants during a training in Somalia. Minimal movement of people occasioned by the dusk to dawn curfew has meant that the militia can't get huge crowds to target. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Somalia's defence ministry said on Tuesday that its armed forces and regional security forces had killed 27 Al-Shabaab militants in the semi-autonomous Jubbaland state in an operation with international support.
The defence ministry statement did not name the international partners that provided support but said its operation was backed by air strikes.
The US military has conducted air strikes to help in the fight against Al-Shabaab, which has waged an insurgency for two decades to try to topple the Horn of Africa country's central government and establish its own rule based on its strict interpretation of sharia law.
The defence ministry said the militants were killed in "a large-scale operation in areas of Lower Jubba and Middle Jubba," adding that weapons and landmines had also been seized.
It said those killed included key members of the insurgent group.
An African Union peacekeeping mission has also been trying to help Somalia's government push back Al-Shabaab, but the group still controls vast areas of the countryside and has the ability to conduct regular attacks on major population centres.
