At least 20 Somali soldiers killed in al-Shabab ambush, officer says

At least 20 Somali soldiers were killed in an ambush by Islamic extremist militants in southern Somalia, according to a military officer who survived the attack, while the government acknowledged damage to military vehicles but did not report any troop casualties.

The al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab group, which has been fighting Somalia's government for nearly two decades, claimed responsibility for Monday's attack near Jameeca village in the country's south.

Somalia's Defence Ministry said government troops killed around 75 militants and wounded 56 others during hours of fighting. Al-Shabab, however, claimed that it had killed 321 soldiers and captured prisoners and military equipment.

The casualty figures and claims about captured soldiers and equipment could not be independently verified.

Abshir Abdikarim, a military officer travelling with the convoy, told The Associated Press by phone late Tuesday that he had seen at least 20 fellow soldiers dead following the attack.

He said the troops had advanced from Leego to Jameeca in Burhakaba district of the Bay region, where they exchanged heavy gunfire with the militants.

Some soldiers who had earlier been reported missing reached Baledogle on Tuesday, while others remained unaccounted for, he said.

The Defence Ministry described the confrontation as an operation against militant positions, while al-Shabab said its fighters had ambushed a military convoy advancing into territory under its control.

According to the ministry, the militants used vehicles loaded with explosives to attack army vehicles, damaging some of them. It did not specify the number of vehicles damaged or address claims that soldiers had been captured.

Al-Shabab said it had seized Turkish-supplied armoured vehicles, armed pickup trucks, supply trucks, weapons and ammunition.

African Union troops drove al-Shabab out of Mogadishu in 2011, but the group subsequently adapted its tactics, relying on guerrilla warfare, suicide bombings and targeted assassinations.

Somali authorities have reported territorial gains in a US-backed military campaign against the militants, although restrictions on access have made it difficult to independently verify those claims. Al-Shabab has continued to operate across large areas of central and southern Somalia.

The latest fighting comes amid a separate struggle for control of South West state. Government troops clashed last month near Baidoa with militias loyal to former regional President Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen, who resigned after federal forces seized the city in March.

The Defence Ministry said government forces would continue targeting al-Shabab positions and disrupting efforts by the militants to regroup. -UNB