African Union troops take Miido town, 36 al-Shabaab members killed

African Union and Somali forces captured the town of Miido in an overnight battle that began Friday evening (August 31st), killing 36 al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab militants, the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) announced.Miido is situated 16 kilometres south of Afmadow, which was recently secured by AMISOM troops. "This was a brave and important operation conducted by the AMISOM forces in Lower Juba," said AMISOM force commander Lieutenant General Andrew Gutti. "Securing the strategic town of Miido will allow the local community to rebuild their lives free from the terror and tyranny imposed by al-Shabaab. I pay tribute to the bravery and commitment of all the soldiers involved in this operation." During the operation, seven al‐Shabaab vehicles and logistic supplies were destroyed while other assorted weapons and ammunition were recovered, AMISOM said. On Saturday, Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir said on Twitter that five KDF soldiers were missing in action, and three had been flown to Dobley for medical attention after sustaining injuries. After three of the missing were found on Sunday, Chirchir said on Twitter, "Bravo Special Forces and for your bravery hats off." Al-Shabaab posted pictures of corpses on its Twitter account, saying they are the bodies of four KDF soldiers killed in combat. Eyewitnesses in Kismayo said al-Shabaab brought the bodies to the port city during the night and called residents to come out and see them. "We saw the bodies of four men in uniform put on show in Kismayo by al-Shabaab," local resident Hassan Abdi Mohamud told AFP by telephone. He claimed that two of the dead were Somali soldiers and two were Kenyan soldiers. The bodies have not yet been identified, nor the number of casualties independently verified. Somali and allied forces intend to capture Kismayo soon, military officials have said.