Al Shabaab strikes AU base in Somalia

James Archibald / Cape Town, Oct 26 (DHA) - At least 10, including four African Union (AU) peacekeepers from Djibouti, were killed and dozens wounded in a car bomb attack in Beledweyne town, a regional capital in Somalia. Gunmen struck after an explosives-laden truck blew up in front of an AU army base in Beledweyne, in an attack in which Al shabaab claimed it killed of 17 soldiers.

The AU Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) announced on Twitter yesterday that an attack was carried out at about noon yesterday at its camp in Beledweyne the regional capital of Hiiraan province, adding that it suspected that the attack had been carried out by Al Shabaab.

Follow ups to the initial tweet indicated that a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device exploded outside the gate to the base, followed by a firefight with 10 suspected Al Shabaab fighters in which all the terrorists were killed. AMISOM added that reinforcements from a nearby base were rushed to the camp and the situation was swiftly brought under control.

Local radio station Radio Shabelle reported that local police and wintesses at the scene said that dozens of civilians who were near to the base at the time of the attack were among the dead and wounded. The station also noted that the attack was the deadliest on Djibouti troops in Somalia who are helping Somali government in fight against Al Shabaab militants in Hiiraan region, and the deadliest on AU forces since last year.

Radio Shabelle also reported Al Shabaab spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rageh as saying that the militants would continue targeting forces from Djibouti until they completely pulled out of Somalia.

At least four Djiboutian soldiers were killed when a suicide truck bomber targeted an African Union base in Beledweyne in central Somalia on Tuesday noon, the deadliest attack on the AU troops since 2015.

Sheikh Ali Dheer said yesterday’s attack on the AMISOM base was a retaliation for “immorality” committing by Djiboutian soldiers in Hiiraan region in central Somalia, the station reported, adding that Djibouti had deployed two battalions of soldiers to Somalia to take part an AU mission to help in the fight against Al Shabaab.