At least seven militants from the Al-Shabaab terrorist group have been killed during fresh fighting between two groups within the jihadist movement on the outskirts of Harardhere district in the central coastal region of Mudug, Somalia’s federal government said in a statement on Sunday.
The government pointed out that the two groups had disagreed over surrendering to the Somali Armed Forces (SAF) in the wake of a series of defeats suffered by Al-Shabaab in Mudug, a hotbed of terrorist activity.
“The skirmish started after fighters loyal to an Al-Shabaab commander named Muheyadin Daqare left the area and engaged in a battle with other militants,” Somali authorities said, adding that the battle raged on for about an hour.
According to the government statement, the other group has taken a number of militants who were trying to surrender to SAF into custody.
The development came as the newly-elected government of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has intensified military attacks against the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabaab group. The Somali Armed Forces managed to regain control over some strongholds of al-Shabaab in the south and central regions of the country.
In late December 2022, Somali soldiers took control of Runirgoud town, the militants' final stronghold in Middle Shabelle, about 240 kilometers northeast of the capital Mogadishu.
Meanwhile, Kenyan police recently announced that they'd detained a number of al-Shabaab members on the border with neighboring Somalia as they tried to flee to Kenya in the wake of an intensified attack on the militants by the Somali Armed Forces.
*Al-Shabaab and Al-Qaeda are terrorist organizations outlawed in Russia and other countries.