Foreign special forces in Somalia have carried out a pre-dawn attack against an al-Shabab base in a town in the south of the country.

The attack was carried out against “high-profile” targets in the town of Barawe in the early hours of Saturday, officials said.

Al-Shabab confirmed the strike, but said that the attack had failed.

The town is under the control of al-Shabab fighters.

The residents of Barawe also reported heavy gunfire before dawn prayers.

“I woke to the sound of the helicopter above the neighbourhood, then a few minutes later, there was fighting, gunfire broke out for about 10-15 minutes,” a local resident said.

Some sources say at least one militant was killed in the raid.

The assault came two weeks after al-Shabab militants claimed the responsibility of an attack in a shopping mall in Kenya, which left at least 67 people dead.

The government in Mogadishu has been battling al-Shabab for the past six years and is propped up by a 17,000-strong African Union force from countries including Uganda, Burundi, Kenya, and Djibouti.

Somalia did not have an effective central government from 1991 until August 2012. In September 2012, MPs meeting in Mogadishu elected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as the new president of Somalia with a big majority.