Dozens of soldiers and insurgents were killed in two days of fighting between Somali government forces and al Shabaab militants northwest of the capital Mogadishu, a witness told Reuters on Friday.
Somalia’s state news agency Sonna said the military had killed about 50 fighters from the al Qaeda-allied Islamist group. No immediate account of the battle was available from the militants.
Hussein Ali, a farmer in the Afgoye area, told Reuters he and other civilians had been trapped in the crossfire during two nights of fighting.
“The Somali government transported dozens of dead bodies. Likewise, al-Shabaab took dozens of their bodies. They both suffered blows,” he said, adding he had counted at least 20 bodies on both sides.