Kismayo — Heavy fighting flared up Sunday in Somalia’s port city of Kismayo, 500 Km south of Mogadishu, killing at least 16 combatants on both Somali soldiers and Al shabab militants, witnesses said.
Military sources who asked anonymity confirmed to Shabelle Media Network the casualties and death toll, confessing that senior army official whose identity released only as Ga’modhere, was among the dead.
Residents said the fighting erupted on the outskirts of Kismayo when heavily armed Al shabab fighters ambushed on government forces stationed near the town.
Al-Shabab rebels pulled out of a key port city in southern Somalia, the group said Saturday, Kenyan troops marched toward the city centre and seaside port that long served as the militants key source of funding. The town is not under anyone’s control now.
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