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Al-Shabaab gunmen attack major AU military base, Somali commander says


Col Muse Hassan, a Somali military commander in the Middle Shabelle region, told CNN that heavily armed Al-Shabaab fighters attacked the Burundian base in El-Baraf, about 160 miles from the capital Mogadishu. kilometers north, from various directions early Tuesday.

Hassan said a suicide car bomber drove into the base’s main gate, allowing the fighters to enter the camp, where they engaged AU soldiers for about an hour. The base is located along the main road connecting Mogadishu with the northern parts of the country.

In a statement posted on its affiliated websites, Al-Shabaab claimed its warplanes killed 59 soldiers while they took control of the base, but authorities have not confirmed those claims nor like the number of possible casualties. This is the second time the camp has been raided by the terrorist group this year.

Somali government spokesman injured in & # 39;  horrifying terrorist attack, & # 39;  PM said

“This morning we woke up to a huge explosion and loud gunfire at the Burundian army base in El-Baraf, which was attacked from many directions,” Hawo said. Ali, a local resident, spoke to CNN by phone.

CNN has reached out to the African Union Transitional Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), officially known as the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), for comment on the attack.

The attack came as Somalia was sworn in in a new parliament on April 14 and is expected to hold presidential elections later this year, after more than a year of delays due to the political crisis. No specific date has been set for the election.

The political situation in the country is further complicated by the power struggle between Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble and President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed that contributed to the delay of the election.

Al-Shabaab, a Somali group that the United States designated a foreign terrorist organization in March 2008, has been fighting for years to overthrow the central government and establish a rule-based interpretation. strict Sharia law of Islam. It has continued to carry out attacks in Mogadishu and elsewhere regularly, despite government and international efforts to stop it.



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