Al Shabaab attacks an African Union base in Somalia

[Deeq A.]

Heavy fighting between troops from the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and Alshabab militants has been reported in Lower Shabelle region on Thursday morning. Residents said.

The fighting flared up when al Shabaab fighters launched an attack on a military base manned by AMISOM in Lambar 60, a small village in the lower Shabelle region triggering a fierce gun battle.

“We heard heavy sounds of gunfire and artillery shelling as the two sides engaged a gun battle that lasted for hours,” said a local resident who declined to be named.

There are casualties though the exact figure is yet to be confirmed. Added the local resident.

Neither the coalition forces’ officials nor al Shabaab commented on the skirmish.

Recently, Somali forces backed by African Union Mission in Somalia have stepped up operations on al-Qaida linked group in some central and southern regions in the Horn of Africa nation.

The assault comes amid ongoing military operations against Al-Shabaab in the region by Somali government forces and their allied AMISOM troops.

Al Shabaab regularly attacks AMISOM bases in Somalia, they aim to drive out AMISOM and topple Somalia’s Western-backed government and impose its strict version of Islam on the Horn of Africa state.

Al Shabaab, the deadliest Islamic organization in Africa declared their allegiance to Al-Qaeda in 2010.

The group was driven out of Mogadishu capital in 2011, and has since lost many strongholds to Somali army and African Union troops.

The Al Qaeda linked group still holds large rural swathes of the country and continue to wage a guerrilla war against the Western-backed government of Somalia.