MOGADISHU, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Somali National Army (SNA) said Tuesday its forces killed 30 al-Shabab militants and recovered three battle wagons after an attack on a military base in Masagaway town in central Somalia, the government said.
The Ministry of Information, Culture, and Tourism said the forces had an intelligence report over the militants' movement and were prepared to thwart the early Tuesday attack.
"Somali National Army thwarted the attack and dispersed the militants who attacked the SNA base. Three SNA soldiers sustained injuries during the operation," the ministry said in a statement issued in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.
It said the SNA forces backed by the international partners inflicted heavy casualties on the militants during the operations.
Al-Shabab militants claimed to have killed 73 SNA soldiers in an attack on the SNA base and an ambush attack near the area in the same region Tuesday morning.
The latest attack came after al-Shabab raided an African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) military base in Bulo Marer last week, killing an unspecified number of troops.
Government forces have intensified operations against al-Shabab in the southern regions, but the militants are still in control of the rural areas of those regions, conducting ambushes and planting landmines. ■