Somali special forces locally dubbed as ‘Danab’ in a joint effort with US troops conducted an offensive against the al Shabaab in Awdhegle town, some 75km west of Mogadishu. The Somali National Army has announced that following the operation, at least 45 militants among them foreign fighters were killed.
Jihadists from Lebanon, Sudan and Yemen fighting alongside Al Shabaab were among those killed in the operation carried out by Somali and US troops. The raid included a comprehensive ground and air bombardments.
Al Shabaab has boasted of having a large number of foreign fighters mainly from Somalia’s East African neighbors but it has a few fighters from the Middle East and the Gulf countries.
The al-Qaida-linked al-Shabaab militants continue to hold small rural areas in central and southern Somalia, but are being squeezed out by Somali and African Union forces.
