At least seven Ugandan soldiers have been killed in Somalia, an army spokesperson said on Sunday, part of the ongoing fight against the al-Shabaab terrorist group.

The soldiers were part of the African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) tasked with combating al-Shabaab.

Recent attacks have stoked fears of a terrorism resurgence in the Horn of Africa nation, especially coming as AUSSOM struggles with insufficient troops and funding shortfalls.

The losses came during a three-day siege over a town in the Lower Shabelle region, a Ugandan defence ministry statement said, adding the town was recaptured from al-Shabaab.

Fears of resurgence

"Unfortunately we lost seven soldiers during the battle," Ugandan People's Defence Force spokesman Felix Kulayigye told AFP.

AUSSOM, which replaced the previous ATMIS deployment, currently has 11,146 soldiers – although it stated in April it required an additional 8,000.

Somalia has long struggled with terrorism, although the Al-Qaeda-linked group had been forced onto the defensive in 2022 and 2023 by Somali forces backed by African Union-led peacekeepers.

Recent attacks in key towns have provoked worries of the organisation's resurgence, with the militants targeting President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's convoy in capital Mogadishu in March.