Heavily armed Al-Shabaab militants attacked a strategic island in southern Somalia on Wednesday, clashing with Jubaland paramilitary forces, officials and the group said.
The assault targeted Kuday Island, a remote outpost that has long drifted between government control and militant ambition.
Jubaland authorities said their troops repelled the attack, claiming security forces inflicted heavy casualties and destroyed several militant vehicles.
Al-Shabaab disputed that account, saying its fighters seized full control of three military bases on and around the island.
A traditional elder in Kismayo told AFP militants stormed a base outside Kuday town, then tightened a siege around the island.
He said the situation remained unclear, describing broken communications and confusion after troops sent a brief distress call.
Several boats were dispatched from Kismayo to support government forces, but the island’s telephone network reportedly went dead soon afterwards.
Kuday lies about 130 kilometres southwest of Kismayo and was recaptured from Al-Shabaab by Kenyan and Somali forces in early 2015.
Al-Shabaab, linked to Al-Qaeda, has waged a bloody insurgency against the Somali state for nearly two decades.
The latest clash underscores how Somalia’s coastline remains a shifting frontier, where control rises and falls like the tides.
