During a special operation against the terrorist group in the Lower Shabelle region of southern Somalia, the Somali National Army (SNA) killed five al-Shabaab fighters and injured numerous more.
The SNA commander, Nur Mohamed Gabow, told Radio Mogadishu that the new military attack against the insurgents began at midnight on Wednesday.
This was stated by officials on Thursday.
“We thwarted the terrorist plot by conducting a special operation against terrorists in this region,’’ Gabow said.
He added that the al-Shabaab fighters were regrouping at the time of the operation even as the government said during a recent briefing.
He said that it had made significant progress in efforts to vanquish the al-Qaida-linked terrorist network in its strongholds of central and southern Somalia.