The Islamist militant group al Shabaab overran two Somali army bases on Friday and killed at least seven soldiers, both the group and the military said, a day after the group retook a southern town. The raids on the bases in the town of Yaqbariweyne in the Lower Shabelle region and the retaking of Janale town after African forces quit are the latest gains in an offensive by the group that has helped them seize several towns this month.
The government has dismissed al Shabaab's gains, saying the areas retaken have no strategic value. But the offensive has shown the group can keep up pressure on the Western-backed government. "We took the two Yaqbariweyne military bases in a fierce fighting this morning," Al Shabaab's military operations spokesman, Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, told Reuters. Thirteen soldiers were killed, he said. Osman Abdullahi, a military officer, told Reuters seven soldiers were killed and five others wounded. "The soldiers defended themselves and now they are fighting al Shabaab in the outskirts of the town," he said.