The killing of numerous Al-Shabaab fighters, according to the Somali National Army (SNA), has boosted the insurgent group’s morale.
Haradhere District Commissioner Mohamed Yusuf Kulmiye said that the SNA had received information about the movement of Al-Shabaab militants travelling in two vehicles after which it launched an attack. Haradhere is located northeast of Mogadishu.
“An operation was assembled to intercept the extremist militants and their vehicles, the soldiers managing to kill all 60 terrorists travelling on the vehicles,” said Kulmiye, adding that the SNA forces seized the two vehicles and the weapons the militants carried.
The ambush occurred near a location called Ali-Qabobe, about 30 km south of Haradhere.
Since August last year, the SNA, in close collaboration with local vigilante groups known as Macawisley, has been gaining territory from Al-Shabaab, especially in Galmudug and Hirshabelle states in Central Somalia.
Haradhere, a former stronghold of the notorious Somali pirates, was seized and controlled by Al-Shabaab militants over a decade ago. However, the extremists lost the strategic coastal town and many other locations in Mudug region in Galmudug State to the pro-government allied forces in January this year.