Several soldiers killed in Al-Shabaab attack on Somalia army base

According to Somalia army forces, several soldiers were killed in an Alshabab attack on a military base located around 60 kilometers outside the port town of Kismayo. Military officers said Alshabab used explosive-laden vehicles to mount an attack on the base before they were repelled.

Government officials claimed al-Shabab suffered higher casualties as a result of the attack. Somalia forces wrested control of Janay Abdale from the militants in January as part of a ramped-up government offensive against Alshabab.

Al-Shabaab has been waging a bloody insurgency against the central government for about 15 years. In recent months, the army and local militias known as “Macawisley” have retaken chunks of territory in the central Galmudug and Hirshabelle states in an operation backed by US air strikes and an African Union force.

Despite the gains by the pro-government forces, Alshabab has continued to demonstrate the ability to strike back with lethal force against civilian and military targets. In the deadliest Al-Shabaab attack since the offensive was launched last year, 121 people were killed in two car bomb explosions at the education ministry in Mogadishu in October.