At least 20 Somali military personnel were killed Tuesday in an attack by Al Shabaab on a military base in the town of Hauadley in the Middle Shabelle region, just a day after the terrorist group lost control of the key town of Harardhere on Monday.
According to reports gathered by the Somali news portal Jowhar, the dead include the commander of an army battalion identified as Colonel Abshir Mahmud Mohamed. The attackers also set fire to several military vehicles and looted weapons at the base.
Somali Army chief Odoua Yusuf Rage said the fighting has killed 21 members of the terrorist group. «We have killed 21 Al Shabaab terrorists and wounded others in Hauadley military base in Middle Shabelle region. Our forces resisted and fought the terrorists as soon as the army learned of the group’s intentions to attack the base,» he said,» he said.
Al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack and stressed that it had briefly taken control of the base, which would be back in the hands of the army, as indicated by Rage, as reported by the Somali state news agency SONNA.
The attack was carried out with at least three car bombs that exploded at the base, which hosts Somali troops and local militiamen allied with the central government. This was followed by an assault on the facility, according to Somali news portal Garowe Online.
The Somali government claimed on Monday that its forces had taken control of Harardhere, in Mudug region, after clashes with Al Shabaab, as reported by the Somali state news agency SONNA. «I can confirm that I am in Harardhere in Mudug region in Galmudug state. Forces liberated Galad in the morning. Our forces are in full control of these towns,» said Somali Defense Minister Abdukadir Mohamed Nur.
Nur himself stressed on Tuesday that government forces have taken control of El Dher, in the Galgududud region, after Al Shabaab fled the area. This brings to three the number of localities taken by the army and allied forces during the last 24 hours.
During the day on Monday a car bomb attack was also perpetrated against a military base in the city of Halgan, located in the center of the country, days after similar attacks against two nearby towns that left at least 15 dead.
The attack left several people dead, including the head of the Criminal Investigations Department in Baladueine, Yamal Ahmed Yama, according to the Somali Guardian news portal. Al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack.
Somalia has stepped up offensives against Al Shabaab in recent months with support from local clans and militias as part of a series of decisions taken by President Hassan Shaykh Mohamud, who pledged upon taking office to put the fight against terrorism at the center of his efforts to stabilize the African country.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
