[Shabelle] A huge roadside blast went off on Friday at a Somali army base in the southern town of Balad, a city that has been a hotbed and stronghold for Al shabab over the last three years.Witnesses in Balad town say they could hear early on Friday hours a loud kaboom that happened at the military base and followed heavy gun shots had gun sex by the forces in the area of the kaboom. People are feared dead in the attack.
No group has yet grabbed credit for the attack so far.
On June 26th, the Somali National Army and African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) forces seized the Al-Shabaab
... the personification of Somali state failure...
-controlled city of Balad without any resistance.
Balad, which lies 30 kilometers north of Mogadishu, is one of the most important strategic cities in the Middle Shabelle region.