Al Shabaab militants killed 20 soldiers in an attack on a military base in Af Urur, a town in Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region on Thursday, an army officer said. Puntland military retook the town, which Bari region Governor Yusuf Mohamed told Reuters earlier on Thursday had been attacked by the al Shabaab fighters.

Start the conversation, or Read more at The Star Online. </s> Al-Shabab militants stormed a military base near the Somali capital Mogadishu Friday using suicide car bombs followed by fighters armed with heavy machine guns, rocket propelled grenades and other small arms.

The governor of Lower Shabelle region, Ibrahim Aden Najah, told VOA Somali that the militants attacked near the town of Barire, 47 kilometers (29 miles) southwest of Mogadishu.

Najah said government forces repulsed an initial attack, which began around 4:30 a.m. local time, but the militants launched a second assault and heavy fighting ensued.

Al-Shabab claimed suicide bombers detonated two cars filled with explosives before its fighters stormed the base. The group claimed to have overrun the base, killed “many soldiers” and seized 11 vehicles, five of which were battle wagons.

Reuters reports at least 15 soldiers were killed.

A security official who was briefed on the attack said personnel at the base were divided into two camps for tactical reasons. One camp was defended by U.S.-trained special forces while the second camp was run by the regular military. He said the militants penetrated the camp run by the regular military.

During the attack, al-Shabab militants disrupted efforts to send help, a security source said. A convoy of military vehicles from a nearby base was hit by an improvised explosive device, while militants fired mortars at another base called Laanta Buuro in an apparent attempt to stop reinforcements.

Officials are confident reinforcements will reach the base within hours.

Somali troops captured Barire in August from al-Shabab. On Aug. 25, Somali troops accompanied by U.S. advisers were involved in a shooting that left 10 civilians dead at a nearby farm. The Somali government admitted errors were made and accepted responsibility for the civilian deaths.

Lower Shabelle is Somalia’s most fertile and largest region, and the government has struggled to clear al-Shabab from the area.

Friday’s assault was the third major military base al-Shabab has attacked this month. On Sept. 3, the group hit the Bulogudud military base 30 km north of Kismayo, killing seven soldiers. On Sept. 11 militants stormed a government base and police station in Beled Hawo, killing 16. Five days later al-Shabab stormed the town of El-Wak, forcing a small number of government troops to flee into Kenya. One civilian was killed and militants raided the offices and stores of three aid organizations, looting food, computers and other items. </s> MOGADISHU (BLOOMBERG) - Al-Shabaab attacked a Kenyan army base in southern Somalia on Friday (Jan 27) and claimed at least 51 soldiers died in the assault.

Fighters struck the base at Kulbiyow with rocket-propelled grenades, Mr Mohamed Kus, a resident of the town, said by phone. Farah Ahmed, a Somali army officer, said the militants also used assault rifles.

Al-Shabaab, which is affiliated with Al-Qaeda, has waged an insurgency in the Horn of Africa nation since 2006 in a bid to impose its version of Islamic law. While the group was driven out of Mogadishu in 2011 by government and African Union forces, it continues to stage deadly gun and bomb attacks.

The Islamist militants gave details of the attack in a statement on Radio Andalus, a pro-insurgency broadcaster, and said that equipment and ammunition was also seized in the raid. Kenya Defence Forces spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Njuguna confirmed the attack and said there had been casualties.

"A big operation is currently ongoing, nobody has had time to count casualties, mostly on their side," he said by phone from Nairobi, the Kenyan capital.

He said Al-Shabaab's claim that it had killed tens of Kenyan soldiers as "propaganda".

In January 2016, the Al-Qaeda-linked insurgents attacked a Kenyan camp near the border at El Adde and claimed 100 Kenyan soldiers were killed. The Kenyan government acknowledged the fatalities, without giving its own toll. </s> The US military said it launched an airstrike on al-Shabaab militants on Saturday in response to their attack on a Somali military base.

The U.S. Africa Command said 52 al-Shabaab fighters were killed in the strike and no civilians were harmed.

The militants launched an attack on Bar-Sanguni base early Saturday, according to the Somali military.

Regional security minister Abdirashid Hassan Abdinur had put the number of al-Shabaab killed in the successful fight to retake the base at 73.

Dozens of al-Shabaab militants were reported have been killed on Saturday as they launched an attack on a military base in Somalia, a government official said.

The militants began by detonating an explosives-packed vehicle at an entrance to the Bar-Sanguni base, said General Ali Mohamed Mohamud, a senior Somali army commander.

An intense exchange of gunfire followed but Somali soldiers were able to regain full control of the base located in Lower Juba province, he said.

There were contradicting tallies as to the number of people killed.

The general said seven Somali soldiers died, while al-Shabaab put the number at 15.

Al-Shabaab’s radio station did not say how many of its fighters died. (dpa/NAN) </s> MOGADISHU: Somalia's al Shabaab fighters attacked a military base outside the capital Mogadishu using car bombs and guns, killing 17 soldiers and taking control of the base and a nearby town, the group said on Friday.

Residents and officials confirmed the attack, but gave no details on casualties.

"After morning prayer today, two Mujahideen rammed into Barire military base with suicide car bombs. We killed 17 soldiers and took seven technical vehicles," Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab’s military operation spokesman told Reuters on Friday, referring to pick-up trucks mounted with machine guns.

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

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

The al Qaeda-linked group was driven out of the capital in 2011, but still carries out frequent attacks on security and government targets, but also on civilians. They also target African Union peacekeeping troops.

Ali Nur, the deputy governor of Lower Shabelle region where Barire is located, confirmed the fighting but gave no more details on casualties.

Residents in Barire also confirmed the attack.

"First we heard two huge blasts at the base and then heavy exchange of gunfire followed. Now it looks like the fighting died down," Ali Farah told Reuters from Barire village.

Two weeks ago, al Shabaab attacked an army base at a town near the border with Kenya, while three weeks ago they struck another in the southern port city of Kismayu, killing at least 43 people in both incidents. </s> Mogadishu, Jan 27 (IANS) Militant group Al-Shabaab on Friday attacked and overran a military camp manned by Kenyan soldiers under the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) in a small town near the Kenya-Somalia border.

Residents in the remote town of Kulbiyow said casualties were feared after explosions and gunfire broke out between the military and militants, Xinhua news agency reported.

Neither of Kenyan or Somalian military have confirmed the number of casualties yet, but residents said the attack was deadly.

The residents said the militants were seen moving weapons and military vehicles out of the devastated base.

According to reports, several bodies in Kenyan military uniforms could be seen at the scene.

The Kenyan military said it sent reinforcements which was able to destroy two vehicles loaded with IEDs within the vicinity of their Forward Operating Base in Kulbiyow, near the border.

The attack came a year after the Al Qaeda-allied terrorist group killed an unknown number of soldiers at a Kenyan Defence Forces base in Gedo region.

Al-Shabaab later claimed responsibility for the January 15, 2016 attack saying it had taken over the base and killed more than 63 soldiers.

It has vowed more reprisal attacks in the neighbouring country, mainly targeting security forces in border towns of northern Kenya.

The group, which has also teamed up with the Islamic State, has vowed an all-out war in Kenya, in retaliation against its military incursion “against our brothers in Somalia”. </s> MOGADISHU - Somalia's Islamist group al Shabaab has claimed responsibility for an attack in which a US commando was killed and four others were wounded when they came under fire in the country.



The US special operations forces were fighting alongside about 800 troops from the Somali National Security Forces and Kenyan Defence Forces when they were attacked late on Friday by mortars and small arms fire.



"We attacked a military base ... killed one US soldier, two Kenyan soldiers and nine Somali soldiers from Jubbaland state. We also injured four US soldiers," Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab’s military operations spokesman, told Reuters on late Friday. </s> Heavily armed Al-Shabaab militants have stormed a military base in Somalia’s semi-autonomous state of Puntland, killing close to 70 people and wounding dozens more, officials said Thursday. Residents said civilians, including women, were beheaded during the rampage. Officials called it the region’s deadliest attack in years, highlighting the twin challenges facing security forces from the Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabaab and the growing presence of fighters linked to the militant Islamic State group. The attack began with a blast at the remote Af-Urur camp, roughly 100 kilometres west of the commercial hub of Bossaso.—AP </s> Somalia’s Islamist group al Shabaab has claimed responsibility for an attack in which a U.S. commando was killed and four others were wounded when they came under fire in the country.

The U.S. special operations forces were fighting alongside about 800 troops from the Somali National Security Forces and Kenyan Defence Forces when they were attacked late on Friday by mortars and small arms fire.

“We attacked a military base … killed one U.S. soldier, two Kenyan soldiers and nine Somali soldiers from Jubbaland state. We also injured four U.S. soldiers,” Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab’s military operations spokesman, told Reuters on late Friday.

He said the attack was in the southern town of Kismayo.

In a statement, the U.S. military said on Friday one local soldier was also wounded in the attack that also involved Somali and Kenyan forces.

The troops had been on a mission to clear al Shabaab from contested areas as well as villages the militants controlled, “and establish a permanent combat outpost” to expand the reach of the Somali state, according to the U.S. statement.

Kenyan military spokesman David Obonyo told Reuters that its forces were not involved in any operations in Somalia on Friday

About 500 U.S. troops are deployed in Somalia.

Al Shabaab is fighting to overthrow Somalia’s central government and establish its own rule based on its interpretation of Islamic law.

Since being pushed out of Mogadishu in 2011, the group has lost control of most of Somalia’s cities and towns, but it retains a strong presence in regions outside the capital.
Al-Shabaab militants attack a military base outside the Somalian capital Mogadishu, with 15 soldiers reported dead.