MOGADISHU, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Somali National Army backed by Southwestern state forces on Sunday evening killed members of al-Shabab militants in a fierce fight in Awdinle town in the southern region of Bay, an official confirmed on Monday.
Ibrahim Mohamed Nour, governor of Awdinle town, told reporters that al-Shabab militants launched an attack on a base run by the Somali soldiers and Southwestern state forces, but they were repulsed and pushed back.
"Our forces foiled the militants' attempt to overrun the base. We killed five al-Shabab militants and injured six others," Nour said.
He added that the army is now making operations to pursue the remnants of the militants.
The latest attack came barely two days after a bomb attack in Baidoa town in the same region which left five people dead and 10 others injured.
Meanwhile, the militant group abducted and later killed a regional State lawmaker near the town of Bal'ad, 30 kilometers north of the Somali capital, Mogadishu on Sunday.
Al-Shabab, which has been fighting the government, claimed responsibility for the killing of the lawmaker. The group has been carrying out attacks targeting government officials, security forces and African Union peacekeepers including their military bases across the Horn of African nation.
The government forces backed by African Mission in Somalia chased al-Shabab militants from the capital Mogadishu in August 2011, but the militants still control swathes of rural areas in southern regions conducting ambushes and planting land mines. Enditem
