Tuesday September 8, 2020
MOGADISHU (HOL) - At least fifteen people have been killed and seven others injured after heavily armed al-Shabaab militants stormed a small town in North of Somali capital.
The Tuesday dawn attack on Bal'ad town, just 30km north of Mogadishu has prompted heavy gunfire between Somali military and the militants, according to ministry of information.
In a tweet post, the ministry's spokesperson, Ismail Mukhtar Omar said the normalcy has return to the town and the militants defeated.
"Situation in the town of Bal’ad is calm now following earlier attack by Al-Shabaab; 14 terrorists were killed, 1 govt solder also died, 7 civilians injured," he said.
In a statement posted on its online affiliate media, al-Shabaab terror group claimed to have completely overrun the town saying their fighters killed dozens of of the government soldiers.
The attack comes barely a day after al-Shabaab suicide car bomb targeted a military base in the village of Janay Abdalla -- 50 kilometers (31 miles) west of the coastal town of Kismayo.
According to authorities, the balst killed two Somali soldiers and injured several others but the militants group claimed to have killed 16 Somalia soldiers and four US soldiers in the base.
Al-Shabaab which is an al-Qaida affiliate militant group has been fighting Somalia's weak government backed by international community for more than a decade.
Despites lossing many territories including the capital, al-Shabaab is still capable of carrying out deadly attacks on the military bases and major towns in the horn of Africa nation and its neighbours including Kenya.