Somalia's army claims to have killed 67 al-Shabab fighters and captured many explosives during an operation in the north-central Mudug district.
On Tuesday, Brigadier General Mohamed Tahlil Bihi told reporters that the military was acting on intelligence concerning the al-Shabab group's movements.
Bihi stated that the operation occurred at about 1 a.m. in the Harardhere district of the central Mudug region when 120 jerrycans with improvised explosive devices were offloaded from a boat and transported in a vehicle guided by 69 militants.
According to Bihi, the truck was destroyed by rocket-propelled grenades fired by Somalia's National Army. He said that only two militants were apprehended alive.
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VOA was unable to confirm the army's casualty estimates independently.
Since late July, Somalia's army has been waging combined offensives with local militias against Islamist militants as part of an all-out assault against the group.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud declared in a town hall meeting Monday night that al-Shabab would be defeated before the end of the year.
According to Mohamud, the operation's second phase will begin soon in Somalia's South West State and the Jubaland region.
Somalia also relies on troops from Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Kenya after the three neighbours agreed in January to undertake cooperative military operations against al-Shabab bases.
