...... the personification of Somali state failure...and armed residents in Somalia’s central region of Mudug, witnesses and officials said.The fighting started Wednesday after heavily-armed al-Shabaab turbans, who control parts of the region, tried to impose taxes on the residents of Shabellow village. It’s about 20 kilometers west of the Ba’ad weyn district, a base for the 21st division of the Somali National Army.
"Heavily-armed al-Shabaab members first asked us to pass through our village, but in fact we found out they wanted to seize our village and we confronted them," the head of the village, Mohammed Ibrahim, told VOA by phone.
Ibrahim said eight of the residents and a number of al-Shabaab forces of Evil were killed in the fighting.
"They [al-Shabaab] killed eight civilians, including elders who could not run away, and women, and I saw the dead bodies of six of al-Shabaab fighters," Ibrahim said.
Residents said the forces of Evil briefly took control of the village and burned houses and businesses.
Al-Shabaab forces of Evil have grabbed credit of the attack, describing the village as a Somali military base, a claim denied by residents.