(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) The radical militant group Al-Shabaab claimed on Sunday killing five peacekeepers of the African Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in southern Somalia.
A radio affiliated with the militant group said the AMISOM troops were killed in an ambush in the Lower Shebelle region.
It claimed that the militants had also seized weapons from the AMISOM soldiers.
AMISOM has confirmed the attack but said only three of its peacekeepers had been killed.
"Our gallant soldiers put up a spirited fight during which three of them lost their lives, while others sustained injuries," it said in a statement on its website.
Abdel-Qader Sidi, an official from the Lower Shebelle, meanwhile, told The Anadolu Agency that 11 Al-Shabaab militants were killed in the shootout.
The AMISOM statement did not refer to casualties among the militants.
Lower Shebelle has been the site of intermittent confrontations between Al-Shabaab militants and African peacekeepers.
The Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab, which is waging a years-long insurgency against the Somali government, has recently suffered several setbacks, including the loss of most of its strongholds in the country's southern and central regions.
Somalia has remained in turmoil since the ouster of President Siad Barre in 1991.
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