Dozens of Al Shabab terrorists killed in fierce clashes: Somalia

Somalia's army and allied clan militias killed at least 100 Al Shabab terrorists in heavy clashes in the central Hiran region, the defence ministry has said. 

Friday's statement came days after twin bombings killed at least 120 people in the capital, when Al Shabab, an Al Qaeda franchise, claimed responsibility for two car bombs that blew up outside the education ministry in Mogadishu on October 29, the deadliest incident since a truck bomb killed more than 500 people at the same location five years previously.

Photographs showing the bodies of scores of alleged Al Shabab terrorists were shared on a Telegram channel linked to the national army on Friday.

The fighting took place in the villages of Garas Magan and El Hareeri on Thursday, defence ministry spokesperson Abdullahi Ali Anod said.

El Hareeri is about 15 km (9 miles) from the strategic town Adan-yabal of Middle Shabelle province, which security forces captured earlier this week, according to a report by Somalia's state news agency.

READ MORE: Somalia car bombs leave 100 dead, 300 wounded

Al Shabab claims

Al Shabab said they killed dozens of army soldiers and macawisley fighters in fierce clashes on Thursday, and that eight of their own fighters were killed in an air strike they blamed on the United States.

Asked about the alleged air strike, the US military said it would respond shortly.

The United States has conducted air strikes against Al Shabab on eight occasions this year, according to its website.

The terrorist group have killed tens of thousands of people in bombings since 2006 in their fight to overthrow Somalia's central government.

Al Shabab has been under pressure since August, when President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud began a concerted offensive against them, supported by clan militias known locally known as macawisley, or "men with sarongs".

READ MORE: 'Why kill so many innocent people?': Somalis reel from deadly twin blasts