Somali army kills 15 Al-Shabab militants

Somali National Television reports that Somali Army killed 15 Al-Shabab militants as they attempted to attack an army base in Diinsoor town of Bay region last night.

Somali National Army SNA commanders said terrorists tried three times to attack the base but the troops gallantly repulsed them.

The officials also announced that they had captured Al-Shabab base in Orshe village about 50KM east of Dhuusamareeb, the Capital of Galmudug State.

The special forces Gorgor carried out the operation in the early hours of Sunday. “Terrorists suffered a huge loss in the operation.” SNA officials reported.

Since late June, there has been an increase in Al-Shabab activity in Mogadishu including suicide attacks on government and military centers.

Somalia plunged into chaos after the 1991 overthrow of then president Siad Barre's military regime. That led to years of clan warfare followed by the rise of Al Shabab, which once controlled large parts of the country and Mogadishu.

The Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab extremist group was driven out of the capital in 2011, but it still carries out frequent attacks on security and government targets and African Union peacekeeping troops. Civilians sometimes get caught in the crossfire.