Clan militias who are believably loyal to former Defense minister, Barre Hiiraale, have killed six Al-Shabaab fighters in a clash in Elwak town and recovered six AK47 rifles, the town’s deputy mayor said.The incident happened on Tuesday night after Al-Shabaab fighters raided the base of the militias prompting hours of fighting.
Sahal Moalim Adan, the deputy mayor of Elwak town, said the fighting took place in the town after Al-Shabaab attacked the base: “Al-Shabaab fighters have attacked the militias of Bare Hiraale, who had military base in the town. Six of the Al-Shabaab fighters were killed in the fighting and the rest fled.”
The deputy mayor added that the clean-up operation was still ongoing. He said Bare’s militia’s side equally suffered injuries including the commander, who has been in-charge of the militias.
It was not immediately possible to independently verify this information.Al-Shabaab has been driven out of major strongholds in Somalia in recent years in a joint offensive by AMISOM and local forces. However, the force is still believed to have between 7,000 and 9,000 fighters, who regularly launch guerrilla-style assaults and bomb attacks.Al-Shabaab is an offshoot of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), which collapsed to several smaller factions after its defeat in 2006 to Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the TFG’s Ethiopian military allies.