IN PICTURES: Bloody aftermath of AU base attack in central Somalia

Hiiraan Online
Friday, June 10, 2016

MOGADISHU (HOL) – One day after fighters from the Al-Qaeda linked Al Shabab group attacked an African Union military base in central Somalia, first footages show harrowing scenes with bodies, some riddled with bullets littering across the army barracks in what appeared to be a mass killings.

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African Union officials who toured the base in Halgan, a small town, 50km north of Beledweyne town Hiiraan region told reporters that troops had a security had a tip-off about an imminent attack, leading to an immediate preparation by troops whom they said killed more than 110 assailants.

While the figures could not be independently verified, 33 Ethiopian troops were also killed during the attack, reported Voice of America’s Somali Service Friday.

African Union forces also displayed hordes of weaponries including 15 machine guns, propelled grenades and dozens of small arms seized during the attack.

Some of the images showed dozens of bodies of suspected Al Shabab fighters including the body of a white-skinned fighter lying on the ground.
The African Union force said that its troops repelled the attack and killed most of the attackers who were estimated to be 200, echoing an earlier statement by the Ethiopian government which claimed that troops killed more than 100 militants.

Al Shabab said it lost 16 fighters and claimed its fighters killed 43 soldiers during the attack which resembled an attack the group launched on a Kenyan military camp last year in El-Adde town in which at least 200 soldiers were killed.

PICTURES: AMISOM

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