Somali defence ministry says troops killed nearly 75 al-Shabaab fighters in Bay region

What the defence ministry said

The Somali National Armed Forces launched the assault on Monday 26 October. It took place in Jameeca, Buurhakaba district, under Operation Banooda, according to statements from the military and the defence ministry. Fighting lasted several hours and involved engagements at multiple locations, the ministry said. It reported nearly 75 al-Shabaab fighters killed and another 56 wounded, without saying how the figures were assessed.

During the Jameeca fighting, al-Shabaab fighters used vehicles packed with explosives against military vehicles and damaged some of them, the ministry said. It did not say whether government troops died or suffered wounds, or how many vehicles took hits.

The military announced the start of Operation Banooda two days earlier with an engagement near Leego. Somalia's state news agency SONNA reported on 24 October that seven al-Shabaab fighters were killed there, with others wounded and weapons seized. The ministry gave no timeline for the next phase of the operation and did not say whether government forces had captured territory or seized weapons.

Two casualty counts, no verification

Al-Shabaab said it killed 321 servicemen in a three-hour ambush and captured prisoners, weapons and vehicles. Neither claim has been independently verified.

Accounts also differ on where the fighting happened. Dawn placed the fighting near Lego in Lower Shabelle, saying militants attacked Turkish-trained government troops and an allied militia. The ministry statement and Eastleigh Voice put it at Jameeca in Bay region. Military analyst Samira Gaid said an army convoy came under a series of suicide attacks on a narrow road in marshy terrain. She said the decision to send troops through an area known for insurgent activity showed poor planning. The attack could undermine the morale and cohesion of an army already facing substantial payment cuts, she said.

The ground in Bay

A June 2026 assessment by the European Union Agency for Asylum drew on conflict data. It found al-Shabaab controlled several towns and large rural areas in Bay as of 31 March. Government-aligned forces held major towns including Baidoa and Buurhakaba. The same assessment recorded 358 security incidents across Bay between April 2025 and March 2026, resulting in 403 fatalities.

The International Crisis Group's report found that al-Shabaab's early-2025 counteroffensive retook most of Hiraan and Middle Shabelle, erasing gains government forces and allied clan militias had made in 2022 and 2023 and restoring a picture close to the pre-2022 situation. It said Mogadishu struggles to hold recaptured areas. Recruits leave the army after training, and corruption and logistical failures weaken operations.

The response in Mogadishu

Baidoa Online reported that the government convened an emergency cabinet meeting over significant losses and the loss of military equipment. A security source told the outlet that at least four Somali military vehicles had been destroyed and expressed doubt that hundreds of servicemen had been killed. Former president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed called for an independent investigation into the army's repeated losses and into whether negligence played a part.