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Al-Shabaab attacks Ethiopian military base in Somalia
Militants from the Islamist al-Shabaab group today drove a truck filled with explosives into an Ethiopian military base in central Somalia.
Ethiopia claims to pull out its troops from Somalia, but we’ll see. Here, the first African Union contingent from Djibouti arrive at Mogadishu’s Adan Ade international airport on December 20, 2011. Somali government officials reported the first contingent consisted of 200 heavily equipped troops from Djibouti with more to follow. The troops, who marched out of the airplane in combat uniform and carrying rifles, were welcomed at Mogadishu airport by top Somali military officials and African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) leaders.
Mohamed Abdiwahab
Militants from the Islamist al-Shabaab group today drove a truck filled with explosives into an Ethiopian military base in central Somalia, Reuters reported.
More on GlobalPost: Mogadishu attempts to evict Al-Shabaab
The al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab said 10 Ethiopian soldiers died in the attack, in the town of Beladweyne, near the Ethiopian border. The casualty count has not been officially confirmed.
Military official Hussein Aden told Reuters :
"A minibus carrying explosives entered Baladweyne administration headquarters compound. Government soldiers tried to stop it by firing but all in vain."
The BBC reported that Beledweyne had been wrestled from the al-Shabaab's control earlier this month.
Al-Shabaab is seeking to drive Somali's Transitional Federal Government, which is backed by African Union troops, from power and impose Sharia law.
Claiming responsibility for the attack, the group's spokesman, Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, told Reuters:
"We carried the car bomb successfully into the Ethiopian and Somali base in Baladweyne this morning. Our brave driver is martyred. There we killed many Ethiopian and Somali troops on a parade."
Ethiopian and Kenyan forces entered Somalia following a series of cross-border attacks, but Ethiopia is looking to withdraw, the BBC reported.
Its troops are to be replaced by those from the African Union mission in Somalia, AMISOM, but a time-limit has not been set.