Somalia: Al-Shabab raids army base, kills 4 soldiers

HUDUR, Somalia - Al Shabaab fighters killed at least 4 soldiers and injured several others in an attack on a military base near Bakool regional capital, Hudur on Monday, Garowe Online reports.

The militant group and Somali officials said dozens of militants armed with machine guns stormed the base in Teed, 30 Kilometers (18 miles) north of Hudur, sparking a fierce fighting.

Speaking to VOA Somali Service, Hudur district commissioner, Mohamed Moalim Ahmed confirmed the raid on the army outpost that left four Southwest state soldiers dead.

"Al-Shabab extremist group has suffered a great loss during the fight. Our brave forces are in full control of the area” said Ahmed, adding that the troops have successfully repelled the attack at the military base.

Al-Shabab said it has taken control of the town, and seized weapons and ammunition in the camp vacated by the forces, a claim that Ahmed has vehemently denied as "baseless and propaganda."

Since the beginning of Ramadan, the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab group intensified the attacks and ambushes against government forces and their allied AU and U.S soldiers in the country.

Last Friday, a U.S. special forces soldier identified as Alex Conrad, 26-year-old, was killed in an al-Shabab mortar and gun attack on a newly established military base in Bar-Sanguuni area, about 45Km north of the southern Kismayo port city.

The extremist group launched an ambush on Somalia's National Intelligence and Security Agency [NISA] manning a checkpoint in Siinka Dheer outside Mogadishu twice on Sunday.

Al-Shabab was driven out of Mogadishu in 2011, but it still carries out frequent attacks on security and government targets and African Union peacekeeping troops to oust the Western-backed Federal Government in the capital.

GAROWE ONLINE