MOGADISHU (AFP): Islamist Al-Shabab fighters attacked an African Union military base in Somalia on Friday, the AU force said, without specifying if there were any casualties.
The Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist group has been waging a jihadist insurgency against the central government in the fragile Horn of Africa nation for more than 15 years.
The army base in Bulo Marer, 120 kilometers southwest of the capital Mogadishu “came under Al-Shabab attack,” the AU force known as ATMIS said in a statement on Facebook and Twitter.
“ATMIS forces are currently assessing the security situation,” it said, without giving details.
In recent months, the army and militias known as “macawisley” have retaken swathes of territory in the center of the troubled country in an operation backed by ATMIS and US air strikes.
Despite the gains by the pro-government forces, the militants have continued to strike with lethal force against civilian and military targets.
In the deadliest Al-Shabab attack since the offensive was launched last year, 121 people were killed in October by two car bombings at the education ministry in Mogadishu.
