Senior Al Shabab member killed in Somalia

The Somali National Army (SNA) said its forces killed 60 al-Shabab terrorists during a foiled attack on two military bases.

Somali Army Commander Dawood Abukar Abdi said in a statement today (Sunday) that two leaders of Al-Shabaab were among the dead during a security operation in Lower Shabelle, after the forces repelled an attack on two army camps in Sabed and Anol in the southern part of the country.

Abdi indicated that the army had carried out an operation earlier Friday against the terrorist Al-Shabab movement, which led to the killing of many gunmen, including the movement’s chief of operations.

"Bashir Mohamed Mahamoud was a senior operational leader responsible for exporting terror in Somalia as well as attacks into Kenya," said Africom director of public affairs Colonel Christopher Karns.

Somalia's state radio said on Sunday that Mahamoud was killed in the southern town of Sakow, following a joint operation by the Somali army and US military.

Mahamoud had been designated by the US for his links to the terror group. As of 2008, he was one of about 10 members on Al Shabab’s leadership council.

General Roger Cloutier, commander of US land forces in Africa, recently declared Al Shabab to be "one of the biggest threats on the continent".

The militants have intensified attacks in Somalia despite government forces having made intensive operations against the extremists in central and southern regions in recent months in an attempt to flush out al-Shabab cells.