15 al Shabaab militants killed in Somalia attack

Mogadishu: At least 15 Al-Shabaab militants were killed on Tuesday when militants attacked a police station in Somalia`s lower Shabelle region, officials said.

"The attack was repulsed by the Somalia army and AMISOM forces that took place around 6.00 a.m. at Qoryoley, Lower Shabelle," African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) said on its twitter handle.

AMISOM said they killed 15 attackers while four security personnel of Somalia forces sustained injuries, Xinhua news agency reported.

However, District Commissioner of the Qoryoley town Mohamed Hajj Osman confirmed that they lost one soldier during the assault.

"This was a planned attack which the Al-Shabaab militants had waged on the government bases. They wanted to take control over the town, but they failed. We inflicted heavy casualties on the militant`s forces. We lost one soldier and several others were injured," Osman said.

Al-Shabaab, which is known to overstate its success, did not comment.