Shabaab suicide bomber strikes Somali AU base
A crowd gathers at the site of a suicide attack on October 19,2013 in Beledweyne. An Al-Shabaab suicide bomber rammed a vehicle loaded with explosives into an African Union military base in central Somalia on October 25, 2016. AFP PHOTO / MOHAMED ABDIWAHAB
What you need to know:
- The explosion was followed by heavy gunfire at the Djiboutian base in the city of Beledweyne.
- Witness Ismail Mahad described seeing “clouds of smoke caused by the heavy blast” followed by “exchange of gunfire at the Djiboutian camp”.
- The Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab militant group said, via its Radio Andalus media organisation, that it was responsible for the attack.
MOGADISHU
An Al-Shabaab suicide bomber rammed a vehicle loaded with explosives into an African Union military base in central Somalia on Tuesday, a security official said.
The explosion was followed by heavy gunfire at the Djiboutian base in the city of Beledweyne.
Witness Ismail Mahad described seeing “clouds of smoke caused by the heavy blast” followed by “exchange of gunfire at the Djiboutian camp”.
“There was a suicide attack targeting the Djiboutian military base in western Beledweyne,” said Abdullah Ibrahim, a local security official who added the number of casualties was not yet known.
The Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab militant group said, via its Radio Andalus media organisation, that it was responsible for the attack.
According to Reuters, Al-Shabaab spokesman Abdiasis Abu Musab said 17 soldiers from Djibouti were killed in the attack.
A-Shabaab, which is fighting to overthrow the internationally-backed government in Mogadishu, regularly attacks AU Mission in Somalia (Amisom) bases as well as government and civilian targets.
ABANDONED TOWNS
In recent weeks Ethiopian troops deployed in the nearby area have withdrawn from some of their positions, with no explanation given for the movement of troops back towards Beledweyne, the provincial capital.
Each time Al-Shabaab fighters immediately reoccupied the abandoned towns.
The group, which once ruled much of Somalia, wants to topple the Western-backed government in Mogadishu and drive out Amisom peacekeepers made up of soldiers from Kenya, Djibouti, Uganda, Ethiopia and other African nations.
According to Reuters, the attack marks the build-up to elections in coming weeks for the Somali parliament, which will in turn pick a new president to continue slow reconstruction efforts in a nation racked by more than two decades of conflict.
Al Shabaab’s usual tactic is to ram the entrance to a target site so that its fighters can storm inside, but a police officer in Beledweyne said no such assault took place on Tuesday.
There was no immediate comment from Amisom and police said they did not have access to the base to offer any figures.
Al-Shabaab’s numbers are often much larger than officials figures.
