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Deadly fighting between Somali government forces and al-Shabaab fighters took place in parts of Gedo region in southern Somalia, reports said on Monday
The battle flared up after heavily armed al-Shabaab combatants launched attacks on Somali soldiers who have bases in Luq district where the two sides pounded heavy and light weapons each others.
Libyan rebels say they have gained control of the strategic southwestern town of Bir al-Ghanam, following fierce clashes with pro-government forces.
Opposition fighters said Saturday that they had managed to push back forces loyal to leader Moammar Gadhafi following a battle that left at least four rebel fighters dead.
There was no immediate word from the Libyan government concerning the town’s status.
Somalia’s Islamist opposition fighters Al-Shabaab on Friday night withdrew its militants from the restive capital Mogadishu following intense artillery shelling from forces of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia (TFG) backed by the African Union peace keeping mission to Somalia (AMISOM)
Al-Shabaab spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage told Radio Andulus “the voice of the islamists” that their militants are out of Mogadishu as part of their own military strategy.
“The reason why we moved our forces out is to change our military and battle tactics. We have also moved out in a bid to safe the lives of troubled residents” Rage told Radio Andulus.
“But in the next few hours we will conduct a wave of military battles to wipe out AMISOM and TFG forces”.
Israeli military air strikes injured five people across the Gaza Strip overnight on Thursday.
Medics told Ma’an that three people were seriously injured in an air strike on the northern city of Beit Lahiya.
An Israeli army spokeswoman said the military targeted the launch site of a rocket in northern Gaza around 10 p.m. Thursday.
Shortly after, air strikes hit central and southern Gaza, and witnesses told Ma’an two Palestinians from the Al-Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City were injured.
As rebels and government forces continue to faceoff across Libya the Libyan Govt spokesperson has now said that it has control over the coastal town of Zlitan which the rebels were trying to occupy for the past few weeks.