Al-Shabaab militants attack Somali military base, kill at least 15

The militants used guns and car bombs to take control of the base and a nearby town, Barire, 50 km (30 miles) southwest of Mogadishu, in an early-morning attack

Al Shabaab fighters killed at least 15 soldiers in an attack on a military base near Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, the militant group and Somali officials said on Friday.

The militants used guns and car bombs to take control of the base and a nearby town, Barire, 50 km (30 miles) southwest of Mogadishu, in an early-morning attack.

The fighters also took 11 pickup trucks mounted with machine guns, known as “technicals”, said Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab’s military operation spokesman.

The other soldiers ran helter-skelter into the woods. We now control the base and the village.

“The other soldiers ran helter-skelter into the woods. We now control the base and the village,” he said.

A Somali military officer put the number of dead at 15; al Shabaab said 21 were killed. The government and al Shabaab often give differing accounts of death tolls.

“There was a battalion of soldiers but it was a fierce fighting; twin suicide car bombs and hand-to-hand fighting,” Captain Osman Ali told Reuters.

“The attacked soldiers were Somali military and the special forces trained by the U.S. called Danab. There were neither AMISOM nor other foreigners there,” Ali added, referring to African Union peacekeeping troops. Reinforcements were being sent, he said.

Al Shabaab aims to topple the government in Mogadishu and impose its own strict interpretation of Islam. Somalia has been at war since 1991, when clan-based warlords overthrew dictator Siad Barre and then turned on each other.