200 Al-Shabaab militants were killed, Sunday evening, during an army operation in the central Hiran region of the country, according to the official Somali News Agency.
And the agency reported, quoting unnamed security sources, that army units, in cooperation with armed clan militias, launched a surprise attack on al-Shabab fighters near the town of Jaibo in the region.
She added that the military operation came after army units received information about the infiltration of young men into the town, which led to the outbreak of violent confrontations between the movement's members and army personnel.
It stated that al-Shabaab militants were planning to attack the town of Geibo.
She pointed out that the confrontations lasted more than 10 hours, as the army, in cooperation with the armed clans, managed during the confrontations to "liquidate the terrorist cell and neutralize 200 of its members."
The agency did not report any casualties among the army, while there was no comment from Al-Shabab until now.
This comes at a time when some regions of Somalia are witnessing security operations conducted by government forces in cooperation with armed clan militias against al-Shabab fighters in the south and center of the country.
For years, Somalia has been waging a war against Al-Shabab, which was founded in early 2004, an armed movement ideologically affiliated with Al-Qaeda, and it has adopted numerous armed operations that have claimed hundreds of lives.