LEEGO, Somalia - The Somali government army claimed fresh military successes against extremists in the south of the country, saying its troops destroyed a key base during an operation, Garowe Online reports.

General Ahmed Abdullahi, the commander-in-chief of the U.S.-trained Special Forces unit, known as Danab unit told army radio that 10 Al-Shabab militants were killed after the commandos targeted and wiped out their base in Leego town.

Abdullahi said the militants used the bastion as a hub to collect a forceful Zakah/Zakat obliging every nomadic family in the area, which lies about 140Km [87 miles] from Southwest of Mogadishu, the Somali capital.

"Danab forces penetrated insurgents' base in Leego district in Lower Shabelle region during a ground offensive which also left at least ten fighters dead on Friday, 12th January," he added.

The troops encountered a resistance and engaged in a brief gunfight with the militants before taking over the entire camp, according to a local resident, who asked not to be named for security reasons.

The commander insisted that no civilians were caught in the raid, which comes ahead of a large-scale offensive against Al-Shabab militants in what the government called an "a final push" to root out the insurgents from the whole country.

Al-Shabab is yet to release its own statement concerning the attack.

The town has been the scene of a deadly attack on a base run by Burundian soldiers by Al-Shabab in June 2015 which killed dozens of peacekeepers serving with the African Union Mission to Somalia [AMISOM].

GAROWE ONLINE