The Somali National Army says it has killed more than 60 Al-Shabaab fighters during military operations in villages around Leego, in the Lower Shabelle region of southern Somalia.

The operations were carried out on Friday, 7 November, in areas where Al-Shabaab fighters were reported to be operating, according to accounts from the military campaign. The army also said it destroyed vehicles used by the militant group, although it did not say how many vehicles were destroyed or give a figure for its own casualties.

The claim has not been independently verified. No independent source has yet confirmed the death toll, and Al-Shabaab has not publicly responded to the army's account of the latest fighting.

Operation Banooda continues

The fighting is part of Operation Banooda, the offensive Somalia's Defence Ministry launched on 24 October to dislodge Al-Shabaab from parts of South West State, where the group still holds ground. The first reported clash of the operation took place near Leego, when the ministry said elite Danab commandos killed seven militants on the outskirts of the town.

Leego sits on the main road linking Mogadishu with Baidoa, the capital of South West State, and the surrounding area has become one of the most contested stretches of the campaign. Al-Shabaab has repeatedly used roadside bombs and ambushes along the corridor to disrupt troop movements and supplies.

Conflicting accounts of earlier fighting

The latest claim follows heavy fighting near Leego on 26 October, when the two sides gave sharply different accounts of the battle. The Defence Ministry said its forces had killed nearly 75 Al-Shabaab fighters and wounded another 56 during fighting at Jameeca, near Burhakaba in the Bay region.

Soldiers who spoke to Reuters, however, said the army had suffered substantial losses in the same battle, with one saying he had helped carry the bodies of 40 soldiers and more than 100 wounded personnel to hospitals in Mogadishu. Al-Shabaab claimed it had killed 321 government soldiers in a three-hour ambush, a figure that could not be independently confirmed.

The competing claims underline how difficult it is to establish reliable casualty figures in the campaign. Neither the government nor independent sources confirmed the full toll from the October fighting, and the same caution applies to the latest army claim.

A long-running insurgency

Al-Shabaab has waged an insurgency against Somalia's internationally recognised government for nearly two decades, seeking to overthrow it and impose its strict interpretation of Islamic law. Despite successive offensives backed by African Union forces and international partners, the group retains the ability to mount large-scale attacks against military positions and supply routes.

The federal government has urged security forces to sustain operations against the group and called on residents to cooperate with security agencies. The Defence Ministry has said Operation Banooda will continue, but it has not said whether government forces have secured the contested area around Leego or provided an updated account of army casualties.