At least 30 people have been killed after gunmen attacked an African Union military base in Somalia.
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Al-Shabab had earlier vowed it would step up attacks during the month of Ramadan.
The attackers used a vehicle bomb to break through the fence of the base, about 140 kilometers (87 miles) from the capital, Mogadishu, before their soldiers opened fire, Feytan Omar, an officer with the Somali army who witnessed the attack, told Bloomberg by phone.
“It was a complex attack”, said Mohammed Haji, an official in the Lower Shabelle region, saying that many people were believed to have died in the attack.
“Leego town is neither in the hands of AMISOM” – the African Union Mission in Somalia – “nor al Shabaab,” Sidi said. He declined to give more details about the casualties. “We don’t know the exact figure of casualties at the moment”.
The Somali government, in a statement from the foreign ministry, called the attack “heinous and unforgivable” and praised the “courage, commitment and sacrifice” of the soldiers from the mission.
Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack through a spokesman, Ali Mohamoud Raghe, who said the group had killed as many as 50 African Union soldiers and had confiscated military equipment.
The Al-Qaeda affiliate is fighting to overthrow Somalia s Western-backed government which is propped up and protected by AMISOM.
Al-Shabaab has been very active over the past week, staging two attacks in Mogadishu. On Sunday, militants stormed a national intelligence agency training site and, on Wednesday, it targeted military instructors from the United Arab Emirates.
He said the militants had killed 35 soldiers.
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On the other hand eyewitness have also reported Al Shabaab reinforcement in the area for possible AMISOM offensive. But the group still controls some rural areas and stages regular attacks in Somalia and neighbouring Kenya.
