MOGADISHU - Islamist insurgents battled
for hours on Sunday with African Union troops after exploding a
car bomb outside their base, Somali police, military and the
militants said.
Al Shabaab militants attacked the African Union (AU)
peacekeepers' base in the town Bulamarer, 130 kilometres to the
northwest of the capital Mogadishu, around 9 a.m. local time,
residents from the area told Reuters.
Since withdrawing from Mogadishu in 2011, the al
Qaeda-linked group has lost control of most of Somalia's cities
and towns. But it still retains a strong presence in regions
outside the capital.
The militants initially detonated two suicide car bombs that
hit one AU vehicle and one Somali military vehicle, Somali army
major Farah Osman, who is stationed near the AMISOM (African
Union Mission in Somalia) base, said.
"Then a large number of al Shabaab fighters began firing
from under the trees ... it was a hellish battle," he said,
adding there was an unknown number of casualties.
The phone of the spokesman for the AMISOM force based in
Mogadishu was switched off on Sunday and Reuters was unable to
reach any other officials from the force for comment.
Abdiasis Abu Musab, a spokesman for al Shabaab said 14 of
the group's fighters and 59 AMISOM troops were killed in the
incident.
A police major stationed in a nearby town also said two car
bombs exploded outside the base before the al Shabaab fighters
entered it.
Major Nur Ali told Reuters that Somali and AMISOM forces had
attacked al Shabaab in rural areas near the base on Saturday
night. "Then al Shabaab attacked this morning as a revenge," he
said.
Somalia has been mired in civil war since 1991.