MOGADISHU, Somalia 

At least six al-Shabaab terrorists were killed and their bases destroyed in a military operation in Somalia's central region of Hiran on Saturday, an official said.

Hussein Hassan, a senior military official leading the operation against the al-Shabaab terrorist group, told media on Saturday that the military operation took place in the village of Af-ad on the outskirts of Buloburte district, killing at least six terrorists.

He said the army also destroyed several al-Shabaab hideouts in the area.

Security officials in the region told Anadolu Agency over the phone that the military operation against the group would continue until the terrorists were completely wiped out in the strategic agricultural region in central Somalia.

On Friday, a local official and his two bodyguards were killed in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack on the outskirts of the capital Mogadishu.