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Al-Shabaab jihadists attack Somali army base

Xinhua, January 15, 2016 Adjust font size:

Kenya's military on Friday confirmed that the heavily armed fighters from Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab attacked a militant camp run by Somalia National Army (SNA), killing an unknown number of soldiers.

Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) spokesman Colonel David Obonyo said Kenyan troops under the Africa Union peacekeeping mission (AMISOM) later engaged the fighters who had rammed a suicide car bomb inside the gates of the AMISOM base at 4.00 a.m. local time.

"The SNA camp was overrun and the KDF troops under AMISOM counter-attacked in support of SNA," Obonyo said in a statement released in Nairobi.

He said the fighting was still ongoing, noting that the number of casualties on both sides is unknown.

"KDF will provide more information on the incident once it becomes available," he added. The attack took place at El-Ade, Gedo in southern Somalia which is in close proximity to KDF camp.

Al-Shabaab has claimed the responsibility for the attack, saying it had taken over the base and killed more than 63 Kenya Defence Forces soldiers. Xinhua however, could not confirm the number of casualties. Endit