It says a joint operation was carried out with Somalia's international partners, which include the US military.

The group has recently lost swathes of territory as the result of an operation led by pro-government forces.

It is impossible to independently verify the details of this attack but the Somali government has described what sounds like a significant setback for al-Shabab.

An information minister said 136 jihadist fighters had been killed in a joint operation with Somalia's international partners.

Just three days ago the US said its special forces had killed a senior militant leader during a raid in the north of the country.

Several years ago Bilal al-Sudani split away from the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab and played a key role trying to boost the presence of the Islamic State group in other parts of the continent - including Mozambique and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.