http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/06/al-shabab-claims-killing-43-soldiers-ethiopian-base-160609061024588.html
Somalia raid: Al-Shabab says 43 Ethiopian troops killed
9 June 2016
Somali group admits "several fighters" died as African Union force acknowledges "attempted attack" at Somalia base.
Somali rebel group al-Shabab says it has killed 43 soldiers in an attack on a base of Ethiopian troops serving with the African Union's AMISOM force Somalia.
The town of Halgan, where Thursday's attack occurred, lies in the Hiraan region of central Somalia, about 300km north of the capital Mogadishu.
"Our fighters stormed the Halgan base of AMISOM ... We killed 43 AU soldiers from Ethiopia in the fighting," Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, al-Shabab's military operations spokesperson, told Reuters news agency.
He said "several" al-Shabab fighters had died in the raid but he did not give a figure.
"It was a huge blast. It destroyed the gate and parts of the base," he said.
Residents said they heard a huge explosion at the base and a heavy exchange of gunfire shortly before dawn.
"Al-Shabab says they drove a car equipped with a suicide bomb into the base followed by armed men storming the base and killing the soldiers,” said Mohamed Adow, reporting from Kenya's capital Nairobi.
An AMISOM spokesman said that there was "an attempted attack" at the base in Halgan.
He said AMISOM forces were still in charge of the base, according to Adow.
Al-Shabab often launches gun and bomb attacks on officials, Somali security forces and AMISOM in an effort to topple the government and impose its own brand of government on Somalia.
In January, Kenyan troops serving with AMISOM suffered heavy losses when al-Shabab made a dawn raid on their camp in El Adde, near the Kenyan border.
Al-Shabab said it killed more than 100 soldiers but Kenya gave no exact casualty figure.
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http://www.dw.com/en/somalias-al-shabab-militant-group-kills-ethiopian-soldiers/a-19317772
Somalia's al-Shabab militant group kills Ethiopian soldiers
Date 09.06.2016
Somalia's al-Shabab militant group has killed 43 Ethiopian soldiers after ramming a suicide car bomb into an African Union military base in the war-torn east African country. It is its first attack on the AU there.
The al Qaeda-linked militants attacked the base in Halgan in the Hiran region, al-Shabab said in a statement distributed on its Telegram messaging channel.
Witnesses reported hearing a huge explosion followed by heavy exchanges of shots shortly before dawn. Gunfire continued for at least an hour after the initial blast.
The death toll has yet to be officially confirmed.
Shabab uses "swarming" tactics
Al-Shabab was forced out of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, five years ago and now carries out regular attacks on officials,
Somali security forces and the African Union's AMISOM personnel in violent efforts to topple the government and impose its own strict version of Islam on the east African country.
The group launched this style of "swarming" attack a year ago and has since overrun forward operating bases manned by Burundian troops in Lego in June, Ugandan troops in Janale in September and Kenyan troops in El Adde in January.
African Union under attack
The African Union's AMISOM force is made up of troops from African nations supporting Somalia's Western-backed government and army against the al Qaeda-linked militants.
"We understand there are casualties on both sides. AU forces fought back fiercely and repulsed al Shabab," Somali military Maj. Abdifatah Elmi told Reuters news agency, without giving figures. "Several residents were injured by stray bullets."
The troop-contributing countries usually announce casualties in such cases.
"Our fighters stormed the Halgan base of AMISOM," al Shabab's military operations spokesman Abdiasis Abu Musab told Reuters. He said the group used a suicide car bomb and then militants had exchanged fire with Ethiopian troops there.
Several al Shabab fighters were killed in the gunfight.
jbh/sms (AFP, Reuters)
Received on Thu Jun 09 2016 - 05:44:25 EDT