Somalia: Somali army, African Union forces and pro-government Sufi militants launched attack against al-Shabaab rebels
Some 50 people, many of them fighters, were killed Wednesday in clashes across Somalia, witnesses and officials said.
The deaths came as Somali government forces backed by African Union troops launched a fresh offensive against al-Qaeda-inspired rebels.
“We have counted at least 20 civilians killed,” Ali Muse, head of the Mogadishu ambulance service said.
Residents spoke of one dead insurgent in the capital and said al-Shabaab fighters had also displayed five bodies they said were dead soldiers from the African Union force, bringing the toll for the capital to 26.