Somali Armey Force Kills 13 Al-Shabaab Fighters In Lower Shabelle Region

US-trained Danab forces killed Eleven Al-Shabab fighters including a leaders charge of improvised explosives in an operation in Janaanle in the Lower Shabelle region on Saturday.

According to military Radio SNA, the Lower Shabelle explosives leader was named Ismail Jiis in operation conducted in the vicinity of Bulo Haji.

The government forces have stepped up operations against al-Shabab extremists in southern and central regions in recent months, but the militants still control swathes of rural areas, conducting ambushes and planting landmines

This comes as barely less than a day after the African Union Mission to Somalia handed over control of the Afgoye military base to the Somali military as part of plans to ensure of security responsibility to the SNA.

Afgoye is situated some 30 kilometres northwest of Mogadishu and was liberated in 2012 when the Somali National Army (SNA) backed by AMISOM troops defeated Al-Shabaab militants during a joint-offensive operation called “Operation Free Shabelle.”