Somali forces have gone on the offensive against al-Shabab. (Getty Images).

The Somali government says it has killed more than 130 fighters from the Islamist militant group al-Shabab – including top commanders.

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

Over the last six months the Islamic State group, which has a relatively small footprint in the country, has also 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.