Somali soldiers killed in al-Shabab attack near Mogadishu

At least 13 Somali troops have been killed by the al-Shabab armed group near the district of Afgoye, northwest of the capital, Mogadishu, a military official has said. For more than 10 years, the group has been fighting to topple Somalia’s Western-backed central government and establish its own government based on its strict interpretation of Islamic law. “We left Afgoye district and attacked al-Shabab in the farms outside Afgoye,” Major Mohamed Ali told the Reuters news agency, describing Wednesday’s incident in the district about 30 kilometres (19 miles) from Mogadishu. “We killed four militants and chased al Shabab,” Ali said late on Wednesday. “Most of the military came back and we left two dozen soldiers there. Then, this evening, al-Shabab attacked our few soldiers and killed 13.” The al-Qaeda-linked armed group, which launches regular attacks in a bid to undermine Somalia’s central government, claimed responsibility for the deadly attack. “We killed 24 soldiers and the rest escaped and ran away,” said Abdiasis Abu Musab, the group’s military operations spokesman. A relative of one of those killed confirmed the incident. “There was a senior commander who was a relative of mine killed in the attack and more than ten of his soldiers, it was a disaster which shocked our family,” the relative Mohamed Ali told AFP. style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0; bottom: 0; right: 0; left: 0;">