MOGADISHU, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- Somalia's regional forces in Galmudug State killed 17 al-Shabab militants who attempted to attack a local town early Friday, security officials said.
The security officials told the state-owned Somali National Television that the terrorists were killed after they attempted to capture Baxdo town in central Somalia.
"The regional forces of Somalia's Galmudug State have repulsed an attack by al-Shabab on Baxdo town, killing 17 terrorists in the early hours of Friday," the television station reported.
The move comes amid intensified operations by Somali forces against al-Shabab militants in central and southern regions where the militants still hold swathes of rural areas conducting ambushes and planting land mines.
