Al-Shabab attacks AU base in Somalia

The Kenyan Defence Force initially denied that its base had been attacked, saying a nearby Somali military base had been stormed and its soldiers had been deployed to help counter the attack.

The group claimed to have taken “complete control” of the camp and killed more than 60 Kenyan soldiers, the BBC reports.

The number of casualties on both sides is not known.

Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) spokesman Colonel David Obonyo said Kenyan troops under the Africa Union peacekeeping mission (AMISOM) later engaged the fighters who had rammed a suicide auto bomb inside the gates of the AMISOM base at 4.00 a.m. local time. The militants today launched an attack on an African Union base.

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Kenyan troops were killed when al-Shabab Islamic fighters attacked an African Union base in Somalia, Kenya’s president said Friday.

Al-Shabab said their fighters killed dozens of Kenyan troops in the attack.

“We have counted 63 dead bodies inside the base”, Musab added.

Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab militants are claiming to have killed dozens of African Union peacekeepers in a dawn raid Friday on their base in southwestern Somalia.

“We then saw an al-Shabab fighter in the town”.

The attack happened in the town of El-Ade, not far from the Kenyan border.

In an effort to impose its brand of Islamic law, the militant group has been waging an insurgency in Somalia since 2006.

“This attack sends a clear message to the Kenyan government that their military’s invasion of our Muslim lands and the massacre of innocent Muslims perpetrated by the Kenyan crusaders will not be without severe consequences”, al Shabaab said.

AU troops are fighting to protect Somalia’s internationally-backed government.

But the 22,000-strong AMISOM force has also made significant gains against the al-Shabaab, pushing them out of several strongholds in the southwest of the country.

“We are also attacking remnants of the militants on the ground near the location that was attacked today”, he said.