Eight (8) Shabaab militants were killed on Tuesday night in a counteroffensive raid in Garbaharey town in the southern region of Gedo.
Garbaharey is the capital of Gedo, an administrative region in southern Somalia inhabited primarily by the Marehan clansmen.
Military reports from Somalia indicate that, a small heavily armed group of Shabaab fighters attempted to storm a base belonging to Somali army in Garbaharey but were repulsed after a fierce fight.
During the fight, 8 militants were killed including their local area commander identified as Mohamed Dhere. One SNA soldier from unit 10 was also injured during the fight.
The Al-Qaeda branch in Somalia has been on an onslaught targeting the military bases used by government forces especially in Lower Shabelle, Middle Shabelle and Gedo regions of Somalia.
The African Union Peacekeeping Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) troops have been very instrumental in backing the weak forces, averting several attempts by the enemy fighters from overrunning a number of the government military forward operating bases (FOB).
