Mogadishu — The SNA forces with the help of foreign troops carried out an operation early today in the Mukayle area under the Bulaburte district of the Hiran region.

The allied forces targeted an oversized garage in the area, where Al-Shabaab was preparing car bombs aimed at conducting a suicide attack against a key army position.

"The National Army destroyed four vehicles packed with explosives to harm the Somali people. We killed militants specially trained to carry out the explosions," said the Govt.

A senior army officer in Hiran said that fierce firefights between the military and al-Shabab began early on Tuesday, especially in the villages around Bulo-Burte following the raid.

The Somali government forces recently increased the planned attacks targeting Al-Shabaab bases in the Hirshabelle and Galmudug state, where since 2022 the group lost key ground.

Somalia's information ministry said Saturday that the army's offensives killed 160 al-Shabab fighters and liberated several villages from the group during a week-long operation.

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who was elected in May 2022, announced a "total war" against the al-Shabab after the group attacked the Hayat hotel in Mogadishu.