On Thursday, Somali forces killed an Al-Shabaab commander responsible for numerous deadly attacks across the country, an official from the ministry of security said.
Abdi Hassan Bare, who was a senior operative of the militant Islamist group Al-Shabaab, was killed in an exchange of fire with soldiers in the Bakool region of Somalia.
The official said Bare was involved in multiple attacks on security forces and civilians, including an attack in the town of Beledweyne in June which killed seven people.
Somalia has been grappling with insecurity for decades due to the threat of Al-Shabaab, an Al-Qaeda-linked group which has waged an insurgency since 2006.
The group has been fighting to overthrow the internationally recognised government in Somalia and impose its own version of strict Islamic law in the country.
Despite being pushed out of Mogadishu in 2011, Al-Shabaab continues to control large parts of rural southern and central Somalia and is still considered the most formidable threat to peace and security in the Horn of Africa.
