Two Somali soldiers have described heavy government losses in a battle with Al-Shabaab near Buurhakaba, southwest of Mogadishu, while the Mogadishu defence ministry claims its forces killed about 75 militants. The fighting occurred on Monday, October 26, in the Jameeco area of Bay region. The accounts, reported by Reuters on October 27, concern an army operation near the road connecting Mogadishu with Baidoa, the capital of South West State.

One soldier, identified by Reuters as Ahmed, said he had helped transport the bodies of 40 soldiers and more than 100 wounded personnel to hospitals in Mogadishu. Another soldier, Farah, said explosive-laden vehicles had destroyed five military vehicles and estimated that dozens of soldiers died. Their statements provide testimony from men who described the fighting and its aftermath. They are not an independently established count of army casualties.

The defence ministry's account concentrated on Al-Shabaab losses. It said approximately 75 militants were killed and 56 wounded during fighting around Jameeco. The ministry also acknowledged attacks using vehicles packed with explosives and damage to army vehicles. It gave no corresponding number of soldiers killed or wounded. These accounts describe different losses, leaving substantial uncertainty over the overall cost of the battle and the extent of damage sustained by government forces.

The engagement occurred during an army advance along the Leego–Buurhakaba corridor. Hiiraan Online identified the campaign as Operation Banooda and reported that soldiers were moving toward Buurhakaba when Al-Shabaab attacked near Jameeco. The fighting reportedly extended across several positions during the day. Moving wounded troops to Mogadishu placed additional demands on military transport and medical services in the immediate aftermath.

Buurhakaba lies on the main inland road between Mogadishu and Baidoa. That route matters for official travel, civilian transport, trade and the movement of military supplies through Bay region. The latest battle took place in Buurhakaba district, outside the city of Baidoa. Describing it as fighting in the wider Baidoa area helps locate its regional significance; identifying Jameeco and Buurhakaba is necessary to locate the actual engagement.

Explosive vehicles were a feature common to the ministry statement and the soldiers' testimony. The government acknowledged damage to equipment, while the two soldiers described destruction and heavy casualties. This overlap lends weight to the account of a severe encounter, without resolving the conflicting figures. The ministry's assertion that its forces inflicted high Al-Shabaab casualties remains an attributed official claim, subject to the same need for corroboration as the soldiers' estimates.

A separate confrontation has also developed across South West State. Earlier in October, forces loyal to former regional president Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen were reported to have entered Buurhakaba and several other districts around Baidoa. The Mogadishu-backed regional administration pledged to retake those areas. Laftagareen called for a political settlement and the withdrawal of Mogadishu government troops, extending the dispute from district authority to national political arrangements.

PUNT NEWS previously reported those territorial claims and Laftagareen's appeal. The contest over regional leadership must be distinguished from the October 26 battle with Al-Shabaab. Some officials have alleged cooperation between Laftagareen-aligned forces and the militants; his supporters have denied the charge. Fighting in the same province does not, by itself, establish coordination, an alliance or common command between the armed actors.

Both confrontations have consequences for a region where control of roads and district institutions affects civilian movement. Communities around Baidoa have faced displacement and severe food insecurity. Residents and relief organizations rely on routes whose accessibility can change when fighting interrupts travel. The accounts reviewed for this report do not establish a new civilian casualty figure or a fresh displacement total arising directly from the October 26 engagement.

The government says Operation Banooda targeted militants along an important route, while witnesses interviewed by Reuters describe substantial army losses. For commanders, the question is whether the reported damage and casualties affect subsequent operations. For civilians, the question is whether the road remains passable and whether local security deteriorates. Those consequences require separate evidence; the battle reports do not establish a confirmed change of control in Baidoa.

A more reliable account of the fighting's scale would require casualty registers, hospital reporting or other independent documentation. The absence of a government casualty figure is especially consequential because the soldiers' claims involve dozens of fatalities. Acknowledged explosive-vehicle attacks and military-vehicle damage are narrower points of agreement. Neither account alone establishes the final position of the units that fought around Jameeco.

The October 26 battle therefore places new military pressure on the approaches to Buurhakaba while the political contest for South West State remains unsettled. The developments that will determine its lasting significance are the army's ability to resume movement, the security of the corridor toward Baidoa and any independently confirmed changes in territorial control.