“One hundred members of the militias linked to Al-Qaeda, including prominent leaders, were killed in a military operation,” the official news agency SONNA quoted deputy information minister Abdul Rahman Yousef Al-Adalah as saying.

He did not say when the operation happened.

“The military operation took place in cooperation between the national army and international partners in the area between the [southern] governorate of Shabeellaha Dhexe (Middle Shabelle) and the [central] governorate of Galguduud,” said Al-Adalah.

Fourteen military vehicles belonging to the militants were destroyed while a base used by them suffered heavy damage, the official said.

Al-Adalah did not mention whether air strikes were used in the operation.

Al-Shabaab – Al-Qaeda’s branch in Somalia – has been waging a bloody insurgency against the fragile internationally backed government in Mogadishu for more than 15 years.

Its fighters continue to carry out deadly attacks despite a major offensive launched in August last year by pro-government forces, backed by an African Union force and US air strikes.