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9 Somali Soldiers Killed in an Attack, 21 Members of Al-Shabaab Killed in Two US Air Strikes

August 14, 2019

 

Members of Al-Shabaab, file, 2018

 

Two Air Strikes in Southern Somalia Kill 21 Members of Al-Shabaab

Garowe Online, August 18, 2019

At least 21 members of Al-Shabaab group were killed in two US air strikes on the Mubarak and Janale towns, in the Shabelle region, according to the Somali national army radio.

The air strikes were carried hours after Al-Shabaab attack on an army base, which resulted in killing nine soldiers in Awdheegle, on Wednesday, August 14, 2019.

https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/two-airstrikes-in-southern-somalia-kill-21-militants

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Somalia: Attack on military base kills 2 soldiers 41 Shares Share Tweet Email Share

Hiiraan, Sunday August 18, 2019

At least two government forces were killed and two more injured when al-Shabaab militants attacked a military base in southwest Somalia on Saturday, officials said.

The attack took place in Daynunay town, some 25 kilometers (16 miles) south of Baidoa city, the administrative capital of Southwest State. “On Saturday, fighters belonging to terrorist group al-Shabaab attacked our base in Daynunay. I can confirm that two soldiers were killed two others wounded in the attack,” Ibrahim Khayre, a military official in Baidoa, told Anadolu Agency over the phone. Khayre said that the military responded and killed at least four al-Shabaab militants.

According to local media reports, Somali government forces have regained the control of the military base after al-Shabaab militants initially overran it. The attack came as al-Shabaab lost significant ground in Lower Shabelle region after Somali special forces backed by African Union peacekeeping forces in Somalia (AMISOM) launched new offensive against the group in the region.

Separately, Somali National Army (SNA) said in a Twitter post that they have killed four al-Shabaab militants and wounded two others in Cel Salin, a small village located in Lower Shabelle region. On Aug. 4, Somali special forces, including units graduated from Turkey’s largest overseas military base in Somali capital, supported by AMISOM liberated the strategic agricultural town of Awdhegle from al-Shabaab.

https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2019/Aug/165224/somalia_attack_on_military_base_kills_2_soldiers.aspx

Al-Shabaab attacks Somalia army base near Mogadishu

The Defense Post, August 14, 2019

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AFP) – 

An army base in southern Somalia was struck by car bombs and gunfire on Wednesday, a military official and witnesses said, in an attack claimed by the al-Shabaab militant group.

The attack in Awdheegle, about 70 km (43 miles) south of the capital Mogadishu, also killed a Somali reporter embedded with the army, a journalist federation said.

General Yusuf Rageh, commander of the Somali infantry regiments, said the assailants struck with vehicle bombs before gunmen surged forward.

“After the blasts they tried to attack the army defenses but were defeated. We are still pursuing them. Some soldiers sustained minor injuries from blast shrapnel but nothing major,” he told reporters in Awdheegle.

The Shabaab controls swathes of Somali countryside, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying they launched two car bombs and “killed many soldiers.”

It is not unusual for the government and the Shabaab to offer differing accounts of casualties from attacks.

Somali security forces and troops from the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMISOM) had only retaken Awdheegle, in the Lower Shabelle district, from the al-Qaeda-linked militants last week.

Witnesses in Awdheegle they heard blasts and heavy gunfire.

“The first blast struck the main entrance of the base, and the second followed a few minutes later. They were huge explosions,” said Muktar Dinle, who spoke to AFP by phone.

Another resident, Mohamed Isak, said the firefight lasted more than a hour after the initial explosions.

“We are still trapped inside our houses, and we don’t know who is exactly in control of the situation,” he said by phone.

A journalist embedded with the army also died in circumstances that remain unclear, the Federation of Somali Journalists said.

Gacal Abdulle Gacal, 23, was working with the army’s radio channel and is the third journalist to be killed in Somalia this year, the federation said.

“We condemn radio journalist Gacal’s murder in the strongest terms as it is a serious press freedom violation. We demand an investigation how the journalist is killed,” the federation’s president, Abdadir Abdulkadir Elmi, said in a statement.

The attack is the latest in a long line of bombing and assaults claimed by the Shabaab, which has fought for more than a decade to topple the Somali government.

The army, which relies on AMISOM forces for military support, is regularly targeted in attacks.

In January, heavily-armed jihadists overran a military camp on the outskirts of Kismayo in the country’s south, killing at least eight soldiers.

https://thedefensepost.com/2019/08/14/al-shabaab-attacks-somalia-army-base-near-mogadishu/

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