30 Shabaab militants killed in attack by Somali army

 

Militants of al-Shabaab train with weapons on a street in the outskirts of Mogadishu. Photo/REUTERS 

In Summary

• The attack destroyed a training camp used by the Islamists, killing two senior leaders of the group last Monday.

By Nation Correspondent
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Thirty Al-Shabaab militants were killed over the weekend by the Somalia National Army at Kolbio, near the Kenyan border, as the war against terror intensified.

Kenya Defence Forces spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir confirmed the Sunday raid but declined to divulge more details saying that the matter touched on another country’s army.

“This (the raid) shows that Somalia’s army has come of age. They are going it alone nowadays. The Somali army is getting stronger by the day,” Major Chirchir said.

The raid comes less than a week after military spokesman Colonel Cyrus Oguna, said KDF warplanes bombed targets held by the group.

The attack destroyed a training camp used by the Islamists, killing two senior leaders of the group last Monday.

The overthrowing of President Siad Barre in 1991 threw Somalia into a civil war therefore leading to emergency of terror groups that have found safe haven in the country.

Kenya sent its Forces to Somalia two years ago, after several cross-border attacks, which were being undertaken by Al-Shabaab which is associated with Al-Qaeda.

Amisom control


Those killed by KDF were Abdulahi Ali alias Ante Ante, alongside his personal assistant Abdi Fatah alias Ballah in southern Somalia, an area controlled by Kenyan troops serving under African Union Mission, Amisom.

Col Oguna said Ante Ante was very close to the overall Al-Shabaab commander, Godane (Ahmed Abdi) and was involved in the actual planning of the attack in Nairobi.

A senior US military official also said that a drone strike in southern Somalia killed two militants including the group’s top explosives expert.