At least three al Shabaab tax collectors were killed and several others sustained injuries in fighting that erupted over a tax dispute between Al-Shabaab and armed locals in outskirts of Dhobley town, Lower Jubba region.
Security officials in Dhobley town said the locals backed by Somali forces clashed Al-Shabab fighters in hours of fighting between the sides. The militants tried to extort taxes from pastoral families in villages outside the town.
Al-Shabab was defeated and they went back their bases later the day. The locals together with the security forces are in control of the villages.
Similar confrontations have happened in central and south Somalia in recent years after locals turned down to pay taxes (zakawat) imposed by Al-Shabaab.
