Mogadishu, August 09: Fierce skirmishes between security forces and fighters alleged to have links with al-Shabab group, kill 15 militants in the semi-autonomous northeastern region of Puntland, government forces say.
On Sunday, a group of Somali security forces mounted an attack on fighters, in response to an earlier assault by militants on an army post near the commercial capital, according to Yusuf Ahmed Kheir, a security official in the Puntland region.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the fighters denied any involvements in the first attack, adding only seven members of militants have been injured during the clashes, which were sparked after security forces attacked their stronghold, AP Reported.
In another development, the UN special representative for Somalia, Augustine Mahiga, said that for the first time over the past years, international staff from the United Nations will engage in operations in the war-ravaged country of Somalia.
The construction of headquarters should be completed in about three months and after that, the UN may send staff to work there, security permitting, according to the official.
The UN’s Somalia operations are currently stationed in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, due to lack of security in Somalia.
The move comes as African Union leaders have pledged to beef up the AU mission in Somalia with 2,000 extra troops as part of strategies to counter the growing militancy in the country.
Somalia has been embroiled in civil war for years as it has not had a functioning national government since the overthrow of the country’s dictator, Mohamed Siad Barre, in 1991.
——Agencies