The armed group claims to have taken control of the city of Adan Yabaal, but the Somali army disputes the result of the battle.
The Al-Shabb armed group has claimed to have overcome Adan Yabaal control, a city in the center of Somalia and a logistics center for government forces, about 220 kilometers (130 miles) north of the capital, Mogadishu.
The fighters launched the raids before Wednesday dawn, forcing the army to retire after fierce battles, according to a security officer cited by the Anadolu news agency.
However, the report was disputed by the Army. Captain Hussein Olow, a military officer in Adan Yabaal, told Reuters News Agany that government troops had delayed the group.
“The terrorist militants launched a desperate attack against the positions of the Somali army in the Adan Yabaal district this morning,” said Somali Captain Mohamed Ali to the AFP news agency from a nearby city. “There were still great fighting in some parts of the city,” he said.
There were no victims reports.
‘Great explosion’
Al-Shabab has been fighting the Somali government for more than 16 years and frequently points to government officials and military personnel.
Adan Yabaal has a strategic military meaning and serves as a critical logistics center that connects the state of Hirshabelle with the neighboring central state of Gallmudug. He was recaptured by Al-Shabab in 2022.
“After the morning prayers, we listened to a deafening explosion, then shots,” said Fatuma Nur, mother of four children, to Reuters by phone from Adan Yabaal. “Al-Shabab attacked us from two directions,” he added.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who comes from the area, visited the city in March to meet with military commands there.
A new peacekeeping mission of the African Union replaced a force majeure at the beginning of the year, but its financing is uncertain, and the United States opposed a plan to make the transition to a United Nations financing model.