KISMAYO, Somalia -- At least twelve people have been reported killed in night raid by Al Shabaab militants on military academy on the outskirts of the southern port city of Kismayo, Garowe Online reports. Late on Friday night, the raid triggered fierce gun-battle that lasted three hours, residents said.Beleaguered Al Shabaab group boasted that it killed 17 Jubaland soldiers, and seized weapons cache in the apparently coordinated assault.
Nevertheless, a spokesman for Jubaland forces said, they lost seven soldiers in the raid: “We repulsed attack designed to be another Leego,” he said on condition of anonymity, referring to deadliest assault by militants on African Union peacekeepers in June.
Some sources put death toll in the attack at 20; figures have not been confirmed yet by either side.