The ENDF said in a press release that the fighters were killed in Rabdhure town in southwestern Somalia after they tried to attack an ENDF contingent that was present in that area.

The ENDF disclosed the militant group had tried to use 12 suicide bombers and three explosives-laden vehicles in the failed attack.

The Ethiopian army has previously foiled multiple al-Shabab attempts to infiltrate eastern Ethiopia to carry out cross-border attacks, read the statement.

Al-Shabab is a militant Islamic rebel group mainly operating in conflict-wracked Somalia but has also been implicated in terrorist attacks in several other East African countries.

Ethiopia has several thousand troops in Somalia as part of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) tasked with countering the al-Shabab threat.