Al-Shabaab stormed a military base north of the Somali capital on Tuesday in a deadly attack launched after the government claimed a "historic victory" over the jihadists with the capture of a strategic coastal town.

There were conflicting reports about the death toll from the assault on the military camp in the town of Hawadley.

Speaking on national radio, army chief Odowaa Yusuf Rage said five soldiers including a senior officer had died in the attack claimed by the Islamist militants.

A clan militia commander near Hawadley said 11 soldiers died.

The Islamists detonated a car packed with explosives outside the camp 60 kilometres (37 miles) north of Mogadishu before gunmen stormed the compound, witnesses and security officials said.

Al-Shabaab, an ally of Al-Qaeda in Somalia that controls swathes of countryside, claimed responsibility for the attack via its communication channels.

The base had only been recaptured from Al-Shabaab by the Somali National Army (SNA) in October last year by government forces and allied clan militias in a fresh push against the jihadists.

The government on Monday announced a "historic victory" over Al-Shabaab after the army took control of the strategic city of Haradhere in central Galmudug state without having to fight.

In recent months, the army and local clan militias have retaken chunks of territory in Galmudug and Hirshabelle states in an operation backed by US air strikes and an African Union force.

But despite the gains, Al-Shabaab has demonstrated the ability to strike back with lethal force against civilian and military targets.

Police said eight people were killed in a roadside bombing claimed by Al-Shabaab in central Somalia on Saturday. Earlier this month, 19 people were killed in twin car bombings in Mahas, a town in Hiran district in Hirshabelle.

- 'All-out war' -

Rage said the army had repelled the assault in Hawadley and was pursuing the militants who got away.

"Five members of the army were martyred, including a senior military officer," he said.

Ahmed Mohamud, an SNA military commander in the nearby town of Balcad, said more than 10 people had died, but added that it was not clear how many were soldiers and that the toll was provisional.

He said the army was "in full control" of the area.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud declared "all-out war" on the jihadists after taking office in May last year.

Last week, he called on ordinary Somalis to help flush out members of the jihadist group he described as "bedbugs".

Although forced out of Mogadishu and other main urban centres more than a decade ago, Al-Shabaab remains entrenched in parts of rural central and southern Somalia.

Somali forces capture strategic town from Al-Shabaab
Mogadishu (AFP) Jan 16, 2023 - Somalia's armed forces on Monday captured a strategic coastal town that Al-Shabaab jihadists had held for more than a decade, top officials said.

Government forces, which have been waging a major offensive against the Al-Qaeda-linked group for months, took control of Haradhere in central Galmudug state after the militants fled without putting up a fight, they said.

"It is a historic victory," Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre said in a statement. "The brave members of the national armed forces... have destroyed the enemy of the nation and liberated the strategic port town of Haradhere."

Deputy telecommunications minister Hussein Ahmed, one of several senior officials embedded with the troops that advanced on Haradhere, told AFP the port had been a key supply route for Al-Shabaab for both people and goods.

"It is very important that after a long time this strategic and historic district is now returned under the control of the government," he added.

Al-Shabaab had seized the town, which lies 500 kilometres (300 miles) northeast of the capital Mogadishu, in 2010 after dislodging local militias and pirates.

- '2023 the year of freedom' -

In recent months, the army and local clan militias have retaken chunks of territory in Galmudug and Hirshabelle states in an operation backed by US air strikes and an African Union force.

"2023 is the year of freedom and the eradication of Al-Shabaab, and our whole country will be liberated from the desperate kharijites (renegades)," Barre said in a statement, using a government term for Al-Shabaab.

Army sources said the village of Galcad, also in Galmudug state, was similarly recaptured on Monday after the Islamist fighters fled without a fight.

Al-Shabaab has been waging a bloody insurgency against the weak internationally-backed central government for about 15 years, carrying out attacks both in Somalia and neighbouring countries which sent troops to help in the fight against the militants.

Although forced out of Mogadishu and other main urban centres more than a decade ago, Al-Shabaab remains entrenched in parts of rural central and southern Somalia.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud had declared "all-out war" on the jihadists after taking office in May last year.

At an anti-Al-Shabaab rally last Thursday, Mohamud urged residents to rise up against the Islamist militants, likening them to "bedbugs".

But they have frequently retaliated against the offensive with bloody attacks in the capital and elsewhere in the troubled Horn of Africa nation, which is also grappling with a punishing drought.

In the latest strike by the militants, eight people were killed on Saturday by a roadside bombing in the Hiran region, Hirshabelle state.

On January 4, 19 people were killed in twin car bombs in Mahas, also in the Hiran region.

In the deadliest attack in five years, 121 people in the capital Mogadishu were killed in two car bomb explosions at the education ministry in October.

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