MOGADISHU, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Somalia National Army (SNA) said its elite forces Danab on Monday detained six people suspected of being al-Shabab terrorists near Toratorow, an agricultural town in the southern part of the country.
The SNA commanders who led the operation told SNA Radio that the suspects were arrested at a roadblock in the Lower Shabelle region where they used to force the locals to pay an illegal levy.
"SNA's Danab forces captured six al-Shabab terrorists who were at a roadblock near Toratorow town in Lower Shabelle region where terrorists used to extort money from local people on Monday," the military radio reported.
The troops also destroyed the militants' checkpoints that the extremist group was using to extort money from the locals as well as captured areas that were under the control of al-Shabab.
The army said the sting military operations were carried out following intelligence information that al-Shabab militants were planning to harass the locals.
The Somalian forces and international partners have intensified security operations in the recent past against al-Shabab extremists in the southern regions in an attempt to liberate al-Shabab-held towns.
The extremist group was driven out of Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, in 2011, but the militants are still hiding in the rural areas of those regions conducting ambushes and planting landmines. ■