Somali Forces Retake Coastal Town of Kudhaa After Heavy Fighting With al-Shabab

KUDHAA, Somalia — Somali government forces backed by the elite Danab commandos and Jubbaland regional troops have retaken the coastal town of Kudhaa after heavy fighting with al-Shabab, officials said on Thursday.

The fighting began before dawn a day earlier when al-Shabab fighters launched an attack on the area in Somalia’s Lower Juba region, and ended early Thursday after government forces surrounded and overran the militants, military officials said.

Security forces displayed the bodies of several al-Shabab fighters, including senior figures killed in the clashes, as well as weapons and military vehicles seized during the battle.

Commanders leading the operation said the militants had been fully driven out of the town following the offensive.

Kudhaa lies about 70 kilometers (43 miles) southwest of the port city of Kismayo along the Indian Ocean coast and has been repeatedly targeted by al-Shabab, which has waged a long-running insurgency against Somalia’s federal government.

GAROWE ONLINE