Somalia forces retake coastal town from terrorists

Somalia's Puntland state forces on Wednesday recaptured the coastal town of Qandala in Bari region from terrorists loyal to the Islamic State (IS) group, who occupied the town in October.

Minister of Planning for Puntland State, Shire Haji Farah, told reporters that the forces took control of the town in northern Somalia without fighting as the terrorists fled, Xinhua news agency reported.

Farah said at least 30 terrorists were killed and 35 others injured in the past days in fighting near Qandala.

"The terrorists suffered heavy casualties at Bashashin area. Some of our forces sustained light injuries and were rushed to the hospital," Farah said, adding three armoured vehicles were recovered.

The pro-IS terrorists took Qandala on October 26. Puntland forces launched an operation to retake the town on December 3.

According to local community sources and humanitarian partners, there was an hour-long battle on Monday between the terrorists and Puntland forces.

Independent sources said there were airstrikes on targets of the pro-IS group during the operation this week.

--IANS

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