A government-allied Somali militia killed at least 45 al Shabaab militants following a battle in the Hiran region of Hirshabelle State, Reuters reports citing witnesses.
The killings are the latest development in the region which has seen a significant spike in conflict between the al-Qaeda-affiliated group and militias allied with the federal government.
Al-Shabaab has waged a war in the Horn of African country for more than a decade as it seeks to force a strict implementation of sharia law.
The group continues to cause havoc across the country despite efforts by both local and regional forces deployed to eliminate it.
Last month, the militant group staged a 30-hour siege of a hotel in the capital Mogadishu, killing at least 21 people and wounding more than a hundred others.
In June, al-Shabaab militants carried out several attacks on villages near and across the border with Ethiopia, reportedly killing more than a dozen people. Dozens of the group’s militants also died in the attacks.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud however said on Friday his country was seeing gains in the fight against al-Shabaab.
“We see a strong momentum against al-Shabab and want to sustain it to defeat a group that has proven to be remorseless and [like the] mafia, which has attained economic autonomy through intimidation and the murder of innocent people,” Mohamud said while addressing the Somali diaspora community in the Washington D.C.
(With input from Reuters)