At least 20 al-Shabaab militants were killed by the Somali National Army, backed by local militias, after the group attacked military positions in the central Hiraan region, the Defence Ministry said late on Sunday.

“Nearly 20 militants were killed, others fled. Pursuit operations are ongoing. MoD (Ministry of Defence) remains committed to defending Somalia and ending al-Shabaab terror,” the Defence Ministry said in a statement on X.

The ministry said the army and allied militia repelled the attack in Hiraan, a region that has been one of the key battlegrounds in the fight against the al-Qaeda-affiliated group al-Shabaab since 2022.

Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the assault, saying it targeted military positions and killed 33 soldiers in an announcement on the affiliated website Al-furqaan.

Terrorist threat

Separately, the National Intelligence and Security Agency said it conducted coordinated operations with international partners in the Mabah area of Hiraan and the Aden Yabaal district of the Middle Shabelle region “inflicting casualties and injuries on militias and leaders of the Khawarij.”

“Khawarij” is a term used by the Somali government to refer to the al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group al-Shabaab, which has been in conflict with the Somali government since 2007.

Somalia has long been plagued by insecurity, with the terrorist groups al-Shabaab and ISIS (Daesh) posing the most significant threats.

Al-Shabaab has waged an insurgency against the Somali government for more than 16 years and frequently targets government officials and military personnel.