Fighting between al-Shabab and government and African Union (AU) troops in the central Hiran region has left 18 people dead on both sides, the Somalian armed group has said.
Al-Shabab spokesman Abdulaziz Abu Musab told the AFP news agency on Saturday that the deaths occurred after the group’s fighters attacked a base of the AU force in Buloburde town, about 200km north of the capital Mogadishu.
The casualties could not be immediately confirmed, but the al-Qaeda-linked fighters said the dead included five of their own men.
The government said six al-Shabab members had been killed, but gave no figures of any casualties on their side.
“Nine soldiers with the African Union, four of their Somali counterparts, and five mujahedeen from our Shabab were killed in the fight,” Musab said…
South Africa Today Africa – East Africa Somalia News