Somalia’s al-Shabaab insurgents attacked a military base outside the capital, Mogadishu, using car bombs and guns, killing 17 soldiers and taking control of the base and a nearby town, the group said yesterday.
Residents and officials confirmed the attack, but gave no details on casualties.
“After morning prayer today, two mujahidin rammed into Barire military base with suicide car bombs. We killed 17 soldiers and took seven technical vehicles,” al-Shabaab military operations spokesman Abdiasis Abu Musab told reporters yesterday, referring to pickup trucks mounted with machine guns.
“The other soldiers ran helter-skelter into the woods. We now control the base and the village,” he added.
Barire is 50km southwest of Mogadishu.
MUSLIM MILITANTS
Al-Shabaab aims to topple the government in Mogadishu and impose its own strict interpretation of Islam.
Somalia has been at war since 1991, when clan-based warlords overthrew then-Somali president Siad Barre and then turned on each other.
The al-Qaeda-linked group was driven out of the capital in 2011, but still carries out frequent attacks on security and government targets, but also on civilians.
It has also targeted African Union peacekeeping troops.
Ali Nur, the deputy governor of Lower Shabelle region where Barire is located, confirmed the fighting, but gave no details on casualties.
‘HUGE BLASTS’
Residents in Barire village also confirmed the attack.
“First we heard two huge blasts at the base and then heavy exchange of gunfire followed. Now it looks like the fighting died down,” Ali Farah told reporters from Barire.
Two weeks ago, al-Shabaab attacked an army base at a town near the border with Kenya, while three weeks ago it struck another military facility in the southern port city of Kismayu, killing at least 43 people in both incidents.
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