Somali National Army (SNA) has clashed with al-Shabaab after al-Shabaab fighters raided pastoralists in the Gedo region.
According to reporters, the military sent troops to chase al-Shabaab fighters who rustled livestock from locals in a village near Bardere town.
The fighting broke out on Friday leading to an unknown number of casualties on both sides.
The local administration from Bardere town has not yet commented on the clashes between SNA and al-Shabaab fighters.
Al-Shabaab fighters have recently stepped up efforts to extort money and forceful taxes from locals in the areas manned by the group in the south of the nation.
Efforts by the Somali government and international to impose an embargo on the group have weakened the group economically.
Southern regions have become battleground of government forces and al-Shabab after the al-Shabaab fighters were chased out from the capital in 2011 by African Union forces and the Somali army.
Somali forces have intensified operations on al-Shabab in central and southern Somalia, conducting consecutive offensives to flush the fighters out of those regions.
