The AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) on Tuesday said that fourteen fighters of Islamist terrorist group al-Shabaab were killed when the insurgents clashed with peacekeepers in Somalia.
According to AMISOM Twitter, the soldiers uncovered the militants during a patrol in the southern port city of Kismayo on Monday.
The mission said among the dead was a mid-level al-Shabaab commander.
AMISOM supports Somalia’s government in the fight against al-Shabaab with about 22,000 soldiers and police officers.
The militant group, which is seeking to establish an Islamist state in Somalia, is affiliated with the international al-Qaeda terrorist network.
NAN reports that Somalia has been shattered by civil war that began when clan-based warlords overthrew a dictator in 1991 and then turned on each other.
A U.S. military intervention there in 1993 ended after the Black Hawk Down incident, when 18 U.S. soldiers were killed after Somali militia shot down two US helicopters in the capital of Mogadishu.
African Union peacekeeping forces have been in Somalia since 2007, gradually expanding from the airport to secure the capital and eventually pushing into other major towns.
U.S. military advisers have also secretly operated in the country since approximately 2007.