Mogadishu, Somalia — Heavy fighting between Somali troops and Al-Shabaab took place in the Aboodin area of the Lower Jubba region amid an intensified military offensive.

The battle on Friday afternoon killed more than 70 Al-Shabaab members and wounded dozens of others, according to a statement issued by the government on Saturday.

The allied forces from the Somali government and local Jubaland soldiers attacked a gathering of the Al-Shabaab group leaders. The dead include senior commanders.

"More than 70 militants and leaders were killed in the war," said a statement, adding that the US military provided air support to the ground operation in Al-Shabaab strongholds.

The ongoing army operations in the Jubaland state are aimed at chasing the Al-Shabaab group, which controls the entire Middle Jubba region and other areas in the regional state.

As part of Washington's counterterrorism, on the 17th of this month, an operation in the vicinity of Jilib town killed a top leader of the Al-Shabaab who is named Maalin Ayman.

Ayman was on the list of the US wanted Al-Shabaab leaders and he was responsible for the January 2020 attack on American troops at Manda Bay airbase in Kenya's Lamu county.