Somalia claims to have killed 29 al-Shabaab fighters with outside assistance

The Defence Ministry announced on Thursday that Somalia’s armed forces, in collaboration with international partners, have successfully eliminated 29 al-Shabaab militants in the town of Jabad Godane, located in southeastern Somalia.

Since 2007, Al-Shabaab has been conducting an insurgency in Somalia with the aim of overthrowing the internationally-supported central government and instituting its own governance based on a stringent interpretation of sharia law.

The ministry announced in a statement on X that it has also destroyed vehicles and weapons “that were intended for use in terrorist attacks against civilians,” during airstrike operations carried out overnight in the Middle Shabelle region.

“The Ministry of Defence expresses gratitude to international partners for their ongoing support in security cooperation, intelligence sharing, and operational enablement in the fight against terrorism,” it stated, though it did not identify the specific partners involved.