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Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...dawn attack on a military base in Gofgadud Burey village in Bay region.
Heavily al-Shabaab fighters have reportedly attacked the military base manned by Somali army prompting fierce fighting between the sides.
Reports say the crash caused heavy casualties on both sides as fighting lasted for almost an hour.
According to sources who to spoke to Halbeeg News, the fighting claimed lives of eight soldiers including a commander identified as Hassan Isak Mohammed Indhagaduud.
Mr. Hassan was the commander of the 43rd unit of the 60th Division of Somali National Army based in the area.
In a statement posted on the group’s affiliate media, al-Shabaab claimed the responsibility of the attack saying its fighters ran over the base.
Al-Shabaab claimed to have killed over ten soldiers and seized huge cache of weapons but Somali army dismissed the claims.
The military officials who declined to give details of the attack and the subsequent fighting denied the claims of al-Shabaab that they ran over the base adding that Somali soldiers repelled the attack and are still in control of the area.
The attack comes amid Somali forces backed African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
mission in Somalia (AMISOM) have vowed to intensify the operations against al-Shabaab fighters in South and central.