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Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...holy warriors in Bay region, in the south part of the Horn of Africa nation.
Southwest front man, Nuradin Yusuf Abukar confirmed that four government soldiers and the commander of the military forces in Bur-Hakabo district were killed in the fighting.
"We have killed seven al-Shabaab Death Eaters, injured several others and recovered four guns after fighting that lasted several hours in Lug-habar location, along the road which joins Burhakaba and Baidoa town in this region," Abukar said.
He said the Somali National Army (SNA) conducted the operation against al-Shabaab holy warriors in the area after getting information that the murderous Moslems had mounted a checkpoint in the area.
Al-Shabaab Death Eaters, however, said they won the battle with Somali National Army, claiming to have killed SNA’s commander for Bur-hakaba town, Abdirahman Osman Abrone.
The group said its fighters ambushed an SNA convey from Baidoa town, the administrative capital of Southwest State in Somalia to Burhakaba town.
The latest fighting came amid military operations in the region to flush out murderous Moslems who have been mounting near-daily attacks on African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
peacekeeping mission bases, government installations, and other public places.