MOGADISHU – Somali-based group of Al Shabaab has claimed to have killed four senior military officials during Friday’s attack on army base in Barire town, some 50km southwest of Mogadishu.
Friday’s gun-and-bomb attack killed 23 Somali military soldiers and injured dozens, including women at the base, according to an online statement issued by Al Shabaab.
The group says on its website that the slain senior officials had been identified as:
- Mahad Duldheir
- Mohamed Ali
- Ali Hassan
- Farah Yare.
The group’s spokesperson, Sheikh Ali Mohamud says the attack was revenge for US-backed forces’ assault in which last month killed 10 civilians in the town.
“We will continue targeting army bases manned by Somali army forces backed by African Union troops in and out of Mogadishu”, Mohamud said.
The Shabab fighters fled fixed positions in Mogadishu 2011 and have since lost most large towns to a 22,000-strong UN-backed African Union force, fighting alongside government soldiers.
But the group’s fighters still hold sway in areas of the rural hinterland, from which they regularly launch attacks
