More than 300 Somali community leaders and relatives of the dead accused Somali troops, accompanied by US military advisors, of having killed the 10 civilians during a raid on a farm early Friday in Bariire, 55 kilometers southwest of Mogadishu, Voice of America reported.

"We met with the prime minister [Hassan Ali Khayre] on Friday night and he told us that the government will respond to the massacre against the civilians within 24 hours and we are still awaiting that," said Barlin Abdullaahi, a relative of one of the other slain civilians.

Somali officials initially said Friday that troops had killed eight al-Shabab militants during an overnight operation. Statements from the ministers of defense and information said the government troops had come under fire from jihadists while on patrol, insisting that no civilians had been killed.

Source : Mena