United News of Bangladesh

Somali security forces, backed by international partners, have killed 29 al-Shabaab militants including a senior commander during a joint operation in the Middle Shabelle and Hiran regions of central Somalia, officials said. The National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) confirmed in a statement issued on Tuesday that the allied forces had launched two separate, coordinated raids after intelligence reports revealed that dozens of group members were gathering to organize terrorist activities across the region. "The forces killed 23 al-Shabaab militants near Masjid Ali Gudud in Middle Shabelle in the first operation, and they later killed five and a commander at Buq Aqable in the Hiran region," NISA said.

Somalia's regional forces in Galmudug State killed 17 al-Shabab militants who attempted to attack a local town early Friday, security officials said. The security officials told the state-owned Somali National Television that the terrorists were killed after they attempted to capture Baxdo town in central Somalia. Read: Dozens of protesters, 12 police dead in Kazakhstan protests "The regional forces of Somalia's Galmudug State have repulsed an attack by al-Shabab on Baxdo town, killing 17 terrorists in the early hours of Friday," the television station reported. The move comes amid intensified operations by Somali forces against al-Shabab militants in central and southern regions where the militants still hold swathes of rural areas conducting ambushes and planting land mines.