7 dead as Gov’t soldiers exchange gun fire in Somali town

Eyewitnesses said the Fighting raged in the heart of Afgoye on Monday night around 10:00 pm local time after units of Somali military forces launched an offensive on a Bar-ismail checkpoint controlled by the police, leaving 7 soldiers dead.

Abdullahi Abdi Ahmed, the district commissioner of Afgoye district for Somali government, told reporters today after the combat subsided that both army fought over illegal money took from the vehicles traveling between Mogadishu and southern regions of Somalia.

Locals say they woke up from sleep for the thud and sounds of the weapons exchanged by both sides in Somali government forces and this morning Dead and wounded soldiers were seen lie on the ground.

Afgoye, a key district in Lower Shabelle region of southern Somalia was recently recaptured by Somali and AU soldiers from Al shabab fighters without much resistance.

Keydmedia.net - Mogadishu, Somalia