Al-Shabaab attack on African Union military base
Friday’s raid took place against an African Union base in Somalia (Admis) in the south of the country.
In a statement to the UN Security Council in February, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said 2022 was the deadliest year for civilians in Somalia since 2017.
AFP
Radical al-Shabaab Islamists launched an attack on Friday against a base held by Ugandan soldiers from the African Union Force in Somalia (Admis) in the country’s south, the number of which is unknown. The attack on the Bulo Marar base, located 120 kilometers southwest of the capital Mogadishu, began “around 05:00 am” (0200 GMT) using a car bomb and suicide bombers, the command of the African Interim Mission in Somalia (ADMIS) described. In a press release.
“There was a fight between the terrorists and Admis soldiers. Admis air force and allied reinforcements succeeded in destroying weapons in the possession of Shebaab fighters,” added the organization, which rarely communicates the results of attacks targeting its troops. Ugandan military spokesman Felix Gulaikye confirmed in a statement the attack against the base “early in the morning,” adding that his troops were involved in some casualties, without specifying the human toll.
“There was heavy fighting. AU forces and Somali forces repelled the attackers and the situation returned to normal”, AFP Mohamed Yerow, commander of the Somali Army, told Hassan, confirming that a vehicle with explosives had been used. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement that the United States “strongly condemns” the action, adding that the country “stands with Somalia and the African Union in the fight to defeat terrorism and bring peace and stability to the people of Somalia.”
“Total War”
Al-Qaeda-affiliated Shebaab has been battling the federal government, backed by the international community, for more than fifteen years to establish Islamic law in Somalia. To counter the insurgency, the African Union in 2007 called AMISOM, a force of 20,000 soldiers, police and civilians from Uganda, Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya. Admis took over from AMISOM in April 2022, with the aim of handing over full responsibility for the country’s security to the Somali Forces by the end of 2024.
Driven out of major cities in 2011-2012, Shebaab has firmly entrenched itself in vast rural areas, from where it continues to launch attacks against security and civilian targets. In May 2022, they launched a major attack on a base north of Mogadishu held by Burundian Admise forces.
121 people were killed in the October 2022 attack
Neither Somali authorities nor the AU gave a figure, but Burundian military sources told AFP that 45 soldiers were killed or missing. Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud declared “total war” against Shebab and launched a military offensive in September, backed by air strikes and US airstrikes.
These operations made it possible to recapture vast territories in the center of the country. But in retaliation, Shebaab continues to carry out bloody attacks. On October 29, 2022, two car bombs exploded in Mogadishu, killing 121 and injuring 333, the country’s worst attack in five years. In February, the UN In a statement to the Security Council, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said 2022 was the most dangerous year for civilians in Somalia since 2017, largely due to al-Shabaab attacks.
AFP
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