67 al-Shabaab militants have been killed by Somalia’s army and seized large amounts of explosives in an operation in the north-central Mudug region.

The report came from Brigadier General Mohamed Tahlil Bihi who told reporters Tuesday the military was acting on intelligence about the movements of the al-Shabab group.

He said the operation in the Harardhere district of the central Mudug region took place at around 1 a.m. when 120 jerrycans containing improvised explosive devices were offloaded from a boat and carried in a vehicle that was guided by 69 militants.

The General said Somalia’s National Army fired rocket-propelled grenades at the vehicle and destroyed it adding that only two militants were captured alive.

Somalia’s army has been conducting joint offensives with local militias against the Islamist militants since last July as part of an all-out war against the group.

This comes after President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud earlier declared that al-Shabab would be eliminated by the end of the year.

The president said the second phase of the operation would soon begin in Somalia’s South West State and in the Jubaland region.

Somalia is also depending on troops from Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Kenya after the neighboring countries in January agreed to jointly launch military operations against al-Shabab strongholds.

By Jane Kibathi.