Saturday June 18, 2022
Armed residents and local security forces in Somalia's
Galmudug state killed 70 Al Shabaab fighters as they repulsed a raid by
militants on Bahdo town on Friday, a local official said.
The state broadcaster posted images on Twitter of at least
20 bodies in military fatigues that it said were among the attackers who were
slain.
Al Shabaab's Radio Andalus said in a broadcast that the al
Qaeda-linked group lost nine fighters and said it's fighters had killed 27
soldiers during a fierce battle after morning prayers.
Reuters could not independently verify the claims.
"Armed residents and clerics shot dead fighters from
every window of every house and from every alley," Ahmed Shire,
information minister of Galmudug state, told Reuters.
He said two children and a cleric from the town were killed
in the fighting, while four car bombs were defused after the insurgents had
fled.
Reporting by Abdi Sheikh Writing by Hereward Holland Editing
by James Macharia Chege and Edmund Blair