...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...
troops after exploding a boom-mobile outside their base, Somali police, military and the Lions of Islam said.
Al-Shabaab
...
Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...Lions of Islam attacked the African Union (AU) peacekeepers' base in the town Bulamarer, 130 kilometres to the northwest of the capital Mogadishu, around 9 a.m. local time, residents from the area told Rooters.
Since withdrawing from Mogadishu in 2011, the al Qaeda-linked group has lost control of most of Somalia's cities and towns. But it still retains a strong presence in regions outside the capital.
The Lions of Islam initially detonated two suicide boom-mobiles that hit one AU vehicle and one Somali military vehicle, Somali army major Farah Osman, who is stationed near the AMISOM (African Union Mission in Somalia) base, said.
"Then a large number of al-Shabaab fighters began firing from under the trees ... it was a hellish battle," he said, adding there was an unknown number of casualties.
The phone of the front man for the AMISOM force based in Mogadishu was switched off on Sunday and Rooters was unable to reach any other officials from the force for comment.
Abdiasis Abu Musab, a front man for al-Shabaab said 14 of the group's fighters and 59 AMISOM troops were killed in the incident.
A police major stationed in a nearby town also said two boom-mobiles went
kaboom!outside the base before the al-Shabaab fighters entered it.
Major Nur Ali told Rooters that Somali and AMISOM forces had attacked al-Shabaab in rural areas near the base on Saturday night. "Then al-Shabaab attacked this morning as a Dire Revenge," he said.
| A subsequent Al Ahram article adds: |
He said that 30 Shabaab bully boyz had been killed, while the Islamists claimed in a statement to have killed 59 Ugandan soldiers.