Local Somali security forces and armed residents killed on Friday 70 Al Qaeda-linked group militants - Al-Shabaab - in Galmudug state as they repelled a raid on Bahdo town, a local official reported.

Somalia's state broadcaster tweeted images of at least 20 bodies in military clothing that it said belonged to the attackers.

On its part, Al-Shabaab's Radio Andalus claimed that the terrorist group lost nine militants and killed 27 soldiers during confrontations at dawn.

On his part, Ahmed Shire, information minister of Galmudug state, confirmed that two children and a cleric were killed during the confrontations, adding that four car bombs were defused after the terrorists had fled the town.

"Armed residents and clerics shot dead fighters from every window of every house and from every alley," the Somali Minister told Reuters.

#UPDATE: Armed local militia and the Somali government forces in Galmudug regional state seized an explosives-laden vehicle and captured a driver, who planned to carry out the suicide bombing in the Bahdo village where al-Shabab launched a heavy assault on Friday. #Somalia pic.twitter.com/caxir8uisb

— Mowliid Haji Abdi (@MowliidHaji) June 17, 2022

Earlier this month, the new Somali President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, pledged that his government would start a massive war against the Al-Shabaab movement to rid the country of its terrorist militants.