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Ugandan Airstrikes in Somalia Kill 189 Al-Shabab Fighters

Mohamed Olad Hassan

   Somali officials and the Uganda People's Defense Forces (UPDF) claimed
   killing 189 al-Shabab fighters late Friday and in the early hours of
   Saturday in an operation in southern Somalia.

   Talking to VOA Somali Service by phone, Lower Shabelle Governor
   Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur Siidi said Ugandan soldiers under the African
   Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), using attack helicopter gunships,
   have killed nearly 200 al-Shabab militants.
   Earlier, the Ugandan army's deputy spokesman, Lt. Col. Deo Akiki, said,
   "Their soldiers killed at least 189 al-Shabab fighters in the operation
   and destroyed two mounted weapons and motorbikes in separate fire
   strikes."

   Siidisaid the strikes, along with ground assaults by the joint troops,
   occurred Friday and early Saturday in a string of villages between the
   Qoryoley and Janaale districts in the southern Somali region of Lower
   Shabelle.

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