Friday, July 24, 2009
The fighting erupted near Guriel town in the centre of the country on Wednesday. Most of those killed were combatants, the witnesses said.
"We have collected around 17 dead bodies... I think the toll could be higher than what we have seen because there are dead bodies still strewn in the jungle areas," said Abdisamed Mohamed, a local elder.
Another elder Farah Moalim said: "Most of them are fighters and the civilian casualty was very minimal."
The Al Qaeda-inspired Shebab controls large swathes of territory in south and central Somalia.
In Mogadishu, Prime Minister Omar Abdulrashid Sharmarke named a new security minister to replace Omar Hashi Aden, who was killed in a suicide car bombing last month.
"I hope that with my nomination, the security situation in the country will improve particularly around the areas the government controls", Abdulahi Mohamed Ali.
Source: AFP, July 24, 2009