{"id":8665,"date":"2014-06-04T14:54:06","date_gmt":"2014-06-04T18:54:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.zegabi.com\/articles\/?p=8665"},"modified":"2014-06-04T14:59:00","modified_gmt":"2014-06-04T18:59:00","slug":"dozens-of-al-shabab-militants-killed-in-clashes-near-ethiopia-somalia-border","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.zegabi.com\/articles\/8665","title":{"rendered":"Dozens of al Shabab militants killed in clashes near Ethiopia-Somalia border"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Ethiopian and Somali forces have reportedly killed about 74 al Shabab militants during a raid on the group’s bases in the region connecting both countries on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Local reports indicate that this was one of the heaviest clashes involving the Ethiopian military; who crossed over into Somalia to engage the terrorists.<\/p>\n

While the government’s side claims to have won the upper-hand from the exchanges, the terrorists are yet to comment on the battle.<\/p>\n

Hassan Ibrahim Lugbur, the deputy governor of Bakool region – where the fighting unfolded – has told RFI that the clashes in Ato were in retaliation for an attack on military bases near the border between Somalia and Ethiopia last week.<\/p>\n

At least 30 soldiers from the Ethiopian and Somali army are reported to have been among the casualties from the attack in Dhubdhure, according to official sources.<\/p>\n

The al Qaeda-linked terrorists have conducted a series of daring attacks on official targets this year; including one on the presidential palace and the federal parliament building. At least two legislators have also been assassinated this year.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, African Union forces and the Somali army have reportedly apprehended 14 al Shabab militants during a battle with the terrorists in Eel-Garas last week.<\/p>\n

Pundits say the terrorists are quickly losing ground and have been wrestled from many of their strong-holds in the urban section of Somalia in the past few years.<\/p>\n

This has reportedly spurred the recent wave of deadly attacks on Somali officials and neighbouring countries.<\/p>\n

Last month, Tanzania police officers uncovered several underground militia bases and a network of criminals reportedly linked to the Somali-based terrorists. About 16 people are reported to have been apprehended during the raid. The authorities say a search is underway for 25 other suspects who are believed to have since gone into hiding.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile,\u00a0the authorities have announced that police posts along the border with Somalia will be reactivated after being temporarily dismantled due to a shortage of officers last year.<\/p>\n

Uganda’s Minister of Defence, Crispus Kiyonga, has also revealed that the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF) will not be pulled out of Somalia. These remarks come following attacks on Ugandan forces; which have prompted the opposition and some commentators to call for the UPDF to be pulled out of the war-torn country.<\/p>\n

Photo\/Reuters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ethiopian and Somali forces have reportedly killed about 74 al Shabab militants during a raid on the group’s bases in the region connecting both countries on Sunday. Local reports indicate that this was one of the heaviest clashes involving the…<\/span> Read more ›<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[44,2860,1],"tags":[1767,54,3072,3071,3075,3073,3069,3074,4967,3070,4966,64,4972,4975,3076],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.zegabi.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8665"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.zegabi.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.zegabi.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.zegabi.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.zegabi.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.zegabi.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8665\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.zegabi.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.zegabi.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.zegabi.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}