Dozens dead in central Somalia as villagers battle al-Shabab

Dozens of people have died following clashes between villagers and al-Shabab fighters in central Somalia, local officials said.

"We have reports that nearly 30 people, including 16 militants, [have been] killed in the Shabeelow village, where civilians ... took up arms [to] battle the terrorists," Osman Isse Nur, a spokesman for authorities in the Galmudug region, told the dpa news agency on Saturday.