Somali forces kill 50 Al-Shabaab members in central state air strikes

Air strikes in the central state of Hirshabelle killed 50 members of Al-Shabaab, the Somali National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) said on Tuesday, Anadolu has reported.

NISA said that the raids took place in Darul-Nimca and Al-Kowthar in the Middle Shabelle region and Beera Yabaal in the Hiran region, where 17 Al-Shabaab fighters were killed and their vehicles were destroyed. The second operation targeting the armed group took place in Darul-Nimca, killing 19 and destroying their vehicles.

On the same day, a third operation targeted Al-Shabaab in the Beera Yabaal area, which killed 12 members of the organisation, which is designated as a terrorist group by many countries, said NISA. The security agency added that some senior members of Al-Shabaab were among those killed in the air strikes, but did not name them or their positions.

Al-Shabaab launched pre-dawn attacks on Tuesday in several villages in the Hiran region. The state-run news agency SONNA reported that the army backed by local militias thwarted the attacks.

Somalia has been plagued by insecurity for years, with the main threats emanating from Al-Shabaab and Daesh. Al-Shabaab has been fighting the Somali government since 2007, as well as the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), a multidimensional mission authorised by the African Union and mandated by the UN Security Council.

READ: Somalia says army, allied militias repelled Al-Shabaab attacks, killed more than 130