Somalia: Army operation kills 7 al-Shabaab militants

MOGADISHU, Somalia

Somali security forces on Tuesday killed seven al-Shabaab militants and wounded several others in the country’s southwestern Bay region, officials said.

The forces targeted al-Shabaab positions in the town of Seydhelow and its surrounding areas and liberated the town, according to Amiin Mohamed Daruur, Bay region police commissioner.

“The operation was carried out by our forces in Seydhelow where at least seven al-Shabaab terrorists were killed. The area is now under the control of the government forces," Daruur told Somali National News Agency (SONNA).

Ali Isack Hassan, a military official in Baidoa, the administrative capital of the Bay region, told Anadolu Agency by phone that no soldier was killed or wounded during the military operation.

He said the operation against al-Shabaab will continue until the group is kicked out of the region.

Seydhelow is a strategic town located 205 kilometers (127 miles) southwest of the Somali capital Mogadishu.

The Horn of Africa country is battling al-Shabaab militants who have intensified attacks on security forces.