Somali Army Attack Kills 130 Militant Al Shabaab Members

Somali/ILUSTRASI/PHOTO soldiers via Instagram @somalia

JAKARTA - Somali soldiers and clan militias / their allies against coordinated attacks in villages carried out by Islamist armed groups al Shabaab in the south of the country. Attacks killed more than 130 attackers.

The militant group linked to Al Qaeda has been in a bloody uprising in southern and central Somalia since 2007.

The militant attack killed thousands of people in a campaign marked by a deadly bombing in the capital Mogadishu.

Al Shabaab attacked four villages in the Central Shabelle region with explosives-filled vehicles on Thursday, February 20 morning.

"National army fighters and local communities killed more than 130 (al Shabaab fighters) in an operation to defeat the enemy," the Somali information ministry said.

"They attacked all these areas from various directions with mortars, car bombs and gunfire," said local elder Nur Ibrahim in Ali Ahmed village.

He saw about 20 bodies of attackers, as well as seven soldiers and clan fighters.

Al Shabaab often attacks military posts and the country's targets as part of a mission to overthrow the Somali government and establish its own government based on a rigorous interpretation of Islamic law.