Somalia: Somali National Army commandos conducted a planned operation in the Bula-Fuley area in the Bay region of southern Somalia, taking out 14 operatives of the Al-Qaida-affiliated Al-Shabaab movement, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement on Saturday.

According to Qatar News Agency, the Somali Ministry further added that after the commandos hit the hideouts those operatives had clandestinely established, they stumbled upon substantial quantities of arms caches.

The Ministry reiterated that it would relentlessly prosecute operations to eliminate militants until security and stability prevail throughout the nation.

Last Thursday, the military said it had fended off an attack waged by the movement and allied militants on the city of Baidoa in the southern Bay region.

The operation was part of persistent joint efforts by the armed forces and security apparatuses to repel Al-Shabaab operatives and eliminate their threat by fending off attacks and conducting military and security operations against their hideouts and movements in several territories across the country.