At least seven killed in Al-Shabab attack at Somali military base

MOGADISHU: Somalian Al-Shabab militants attacked a military base in the outskirts of the town of Baidoa Friday morning, killing at least seven soldiers, a Somali military official said.

The attack came two days after theUnited States said it had killed the chief of Al-Shabab’s intelligence and security wing, Tahliil Abdishakur, in a drone strike. Al-Shabab seeks to topple the Western-backed Mogadishugovernment and impose its own strict version of Islamic law.

“Al-Shabab attacked our base unexpectedly, early in the morning today. We lost seven soldiers,” Capt. Ahmad Idow, a Somali military officer, told Reuters by telephone from Baidoa.

Idow said Somali soldiers killed three Al-Shabab insurgents during the attack.

A spokesman for Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab said the group had briefly seized the base and killed more than 10 soldiers. Al-Shabaab often cites a higher death toll than the number given by officials.

“We fiercely attacked the military base near Baidoa,” Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, Al-Shabaab’s military operation spokesman, told Reuters.

In a separate incident in centralSomalia Friday, Al-Shabaab ambushed a government convoy carrying food aid, killing one soldier, Somali officials said. A spokesman for Al-Shabaab confirmed the group was behind the attack. 

Also in Mogadishu, a car bomb, also claimed by Al-Shabab, killed one person and injured three others, according to local media.

Source http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/World/2015/Jan-03/282902-at-least-seven-killed-in-al-shabab-attack-at-somali-military-base.ashx