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Nearly 70 dead in Al-Shabaab attack on Puntland military base
[DAWN] Heavily armed al-Shabaab...  the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...murderous Moslems have stormed a military base in Somalia's semi-autonomous state of Puntland ...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion... , killing close to 70 people and wounding dozens more, officials said Thursday. Residents said civilians, including women, had their heads chopped off during the rampage. Officials called it the region's deadliest attack in years, highlighting the twin challenges facing security forces from the Al Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab and the growing presence of fighters linked to the hard boy Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... group. The attack began with a blast at the remote Af-Urur camp, roughly 100 kilometres west of the commercial hub of Bossaso, before the Close to 70 people were killed, though an exact corpse count was not yet available, Mohammed said. Abdi Hersi Ali, Puntland's interior minister, said troops suffered causalities but he declined to give further details. Residents in the area reported chaotic scenes, with fighters beheading several civilians they encountered. One witness, Abdibasit Hassan, said women were among those beheaded. "The situation is grim over there. This attack was an unexpected one," Mohammed said. The murderous Moslems, including jacket wallahs, reportedly attacked the base from three directions, forcing soldiers to retreat. Col Hashi Ahmed, a senior military official, told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named that reinforcement troops reached the area and drove the Al-Shabaab claimed killing at least 61 soldiers in the attack. The Search for International Terrorist Entities (SITE) Intelligence Group, which monitors murderous Moslem groups, said the murderous Moslem group issued the claim via its Shahada News Agency. Al-Shabaab also said it seized a large amount of weapons and ammunition and more than a dozen military vehicles. Puntland in northern Somalia also faces a growing threat from IS-linked fighters who have split from al-Shabaab. Liban Mohammed, a nurse at the hospital in nearby Armo town, said at least 40 maimed soldiers had been brought there after Thursday's attack. Posted by: Fred 2017-06-09 |
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