Islamic extremists attack African Union base in Somalia

Residents said they could hear sporadic gunfire.

A Somali military official said heavily armed fighters from the Islamic extremist group al-Shabab have attacked a base for African Union peacekeepers in southwestern Somalia.

The African Union Mission in Somalia “can confirm that there was an attack on our troops in El-Adde” and more details will be released later, it said in statement on its Twitter account.

The Al-Qaida-linked group has engaged the AU peacekeepers and the Somali government in near daily attacks especially in Mogadishu and regions bordering Kenya.

“Al-Shabab may have initially thought that they were going to win but we are taking appropriate action, [with] combat operations against the Al-Shabab”, he added.

“(Kenyan) troops under (African Union auspices) counter-attacked…

According to the report, Arab believes some al-Shabab members attend football matches in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. “There are no civilian casualties but most people have fled the town”.

“There was suicide attack followed by the fighting and it seems that the base was stormed”, Ahmed said.

“We intend to go ahead and fight these charges”, Irving Cohen, his lawyer, told reporters after the hearing. “We have counted 63 dead bodies inside the base”.

The two military bases – one for Somali troops and the other for AU soldiers – neighbour each other on the outskirts of el-Ade, which is in Gedo region, about 380 km (240 miles) west of Mogadishu.

The militants say the attacks are retaliation for the Kenyan military presence in Somalia and “war crimes” committed by Kenyan troops.