MOGADISHU – Heavy fighting broke out between Somali military forces and Al Shabaab fighters in Barire town, some 40 miles west of Somalia’s capital Mogadishu.
The battle flared up when heavily armed Al Shabaab fighters attacked on army base in the town, killing at least three militants, according to military sources.
“It was an ambush attack launched by Al Shabaab. We have repulsed them from our base. Three militants were killed during the clash”, a military official, who asked to be unnamed, said.
Four other militants were also injured in the combat.
There was no response from Al Shabaab over the military claims.
The Shabab fighters fled fixed positions in Mogadishu 2011 and have since lost most large towns to a 22,000-strong UN-backed African Union force, fighting alongside government soldiers.
But the group’s fighters still hold sway in areas of the rural hinterland, from which they regularly launch attacks
