A Somali air raid killed 12 al Shabaab fighters in central Somalia and another 35 Islamists were killed by troops in a southwest region as they attempted to strike a military camp there, the government announced.

The air raid followed hours earlier when fighters of the al Qaeda-linked group, which has been fighting an insurgency since 2007, targeted a strategic village in the region. Al Shabaab, which aspires to take control and govern according to its own strict version of Islamic law, temporarily occupied villages within 50 km of Mogadishu during the last month, causing fear among the city’s locals that the city may be attacked.

Some of the top al Shabaab militants were among the dead in the airstrike conducted by Somali forces and the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) in the central Adan Yabaal district, Somalia’s administration announced. “The targeted strike hit a location operated by the militants as a congregation and shelter. Notably there were no civilian deaths,” the Ministry of Information stated in a post on the social media.

A few days ago, local sources revealed, Al-Shabaab fighters have captured the strategic town of Aadan Yabaal in Somalia’s Middle Shabelle area after a dawn invasion with explosions and hours of action. The assault began and persisted for more than five hours, marked by intense gunfire from both sides. The town, a crucial hub in central Somalia, had been under government control since its recapture from militants in late 2022.

The action was said by the government to be part of ongoing efforts aimed at “neutralising the threat” posed by Al-Shabaab, an Al-Qaeda-affiliated jihadist organisation known to have carried out a series of attacks in Somalia. The air strike was conducted in consultation with the US Africa Command (AFRICOM), which has, for years, been backing Somali security agents in counter-terrorism efforts.

In another happening, the national military killed at a minimum 35 militants in an area around the city of Baidoa, the ministry added. Serious clashes erupted in the town of Adan Yabaal, some 245 km north of Mogadishu and used as a launchpad for operations against al Shabaab.

The result of the fight was not instantly apparent, with the management troops and al Shabaab providing inconsistent descriptions of who controlled the town. 

Al Shabaab claimed its troops had captured 10 military bases during battle. Somali troops have reclaimed the villages taken briefly last month, but al Shabaab has made further gains in the countryside, prompting the government to send police and prison guards to back the military, soldiers have said.