Al-Shabaab militants attack African Union base near Mogadishu
Pro-government force says 110 extremists killed in battle after suicide car bomb rammed into military base
The African Union AMISOM force fighting in Somalia said on Thursday its troops repelled an attack on one of its bases by the al-Shabaab Islamist group and killed 110 militants.
"AMISOM forces killed 110 al-Shabaab and captured a large cache of weapons," AMISOM spokesman Lt.-Col. Joe Kibet told Reuters by telephone, adding that a claim by al-Shabaab that it had killed 60 AU soldiers was a "falsehood."
- Somalia famine was U.S.-created war crime, says journalist
- U.S. strikes al-Shabaab training camp in Somalia
Al-Shabaab initially said it had killed 43 Ethiopian soldiers when it rammed a suicide car bomb into an AU military base, but its military operations spokesman later said its fighters had killed 60, while 16 of its own fighters died in the attack on the base in Halgan town, north of Mogadishu.
Residents near the base said they heard a huge explosion and heavy exchanges of gunfire shortly before dawn. Shots rang out at least an hour after the initial blast, they said.
AMISOM, made up of troops from African nations supporting Somalia's Western-backed government and army in the fight against the al-Qaeda-linked militants, usually says it is up to troop-contributing countries to announce casualties.
"AU forces fought back fiercely and repulsed al-Shabaab," Somali military officer Major Abdifatah Elmi told Reuters from Bulaburde town in the region. But he said he did not have figures.
"Several residents were injured by stray bullets," he said.
'Huge blast'
In the past, casualty figures cited by al-Shabaab have been much higher than official numbers.
"Our fighters stormed the Halgan base of AMISOM," al-Shabaab's military operations spokesman Abdiasis Abu Musab told Reuters.
He said "several" al-Shabaab fighters died.
"It was a huge blast. It destroyed the gate and parts of the base," the spokesman said, adding al-Shabaab fighters overran the base and drove out the Ethiopian troops before withdrawing.
Al-Shabaab fighters also repelled a counter-attack by Djibouti troops deployed from another base in the area, he said.
The group often launches gun and bomb attacks on officials, Somali security forces and AMISOM in a bid to topple the government and impose its own strict interpretation of Islam on Somalia.
In January, Kenyan troops serving with AMISOM suffered heavy losses when al-Shabaab made a dawn raid on their camp in El Adde, near the Kenyan border. Al-Shabaab said it killed more than 100 soldiers but Kenya gave no exact casualty figure.