Tuesday May 26, 2020
MOGADISHU, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Somalia's Jubaland forces on Monday killed four al-Shabab extremists in a fierce fight in Dhobley, a town in southern Somalia, a police officer confirmed.
Mohamed Abdullahi, deputy commander of police forces in Dhobley, said that al-Shabab fighters launched an attack on a base used by Jubaland forces in Dhobley, but they were repulsed.
"Al-Shabab extremists attacked a training base for Jubaland forces, prompting an intense confrontation between the army and the attackers," Abdullahi said.
"We killed four militants during the clashes. Our forces are now controlling the base and the militants have fled to the outside of the town," he added.
The attack came barely three days after Somali forces killed five al-Shabab militants in Burdhubo, a town in the country's southern region of Gedo.
Government forces have stepped up operations against al-Shabab extremists in southern regions, but militants still hold swathes of rural areas in those regions, conducting ambushes and planting land mines.