Al Shabaab militants attack two Somali military bases

MOGADISHU — Al Shabaab militants on Wednesday carried out attacks on two Somali military bases, using a suicide vehicle bombing and dozens of heavily armed militants, a military official said.

African Union (AU) troops stepped in to help repel the second, larger attack, after a suicide bomber drove a vehicle packed with explosives onto a bridge leading to the Qoryoley army base some 95 kilometres west of Mogadishu and detonated it.

Earlier they had attacked the Ceel-salini military base some 30 kilometres away.

“The terrorists carried out an attack on the military bases at Qoryoley and Ceel-salini but our brave boys repelled them, they [Al Shabaab] have suffered heavy casualties this morning and the army is in full control in the both areas now,” said Mohamed Adan, a Somali military commander in a nearby town.

“They have destroyed part of the bridge across the entrance to Qoryoley where the Somali military base is located using a vehicle loaded with explosives.”

He said the AU peacekeeping force AMISOM had helped fight the Al Qaeda linked militants.

It was not yet known how many casualties there were.

Witnesses said dozens of heavily armed Al Shabaab militants entered Qoryoley town and addressed a gathering of residents before retreating.

“Al Shabaab fighters entered the town and one of their commanders spoke with a gathering before they made their way out of the town, the situation is quiet now and the Somali forces backed by AMISOM soldiers are patrolling the streets,” Ali Moalim, a resident in Qoryoley said by phone.

Al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement, saying they had “captured a sizeable amount of military supplies”.

The group has fought for over a decade to topple the internationally-backed Somali government, and carries out regular attacks against civilian and government targets, despite losing much of the territory they once controlled.