Hiiraan Online
Sunday, October 4, 2015
MOGADISHU (HOL) ---Fighters from the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab group have attacked a military base in near the agricultural town of Jowhar, resulting in firefight with security forces and the deaths of at least five combatants, officials said on Sunday.
The attack in Sabun, a village on the north of Jowhar started overnight as soldiers manning checkpoints spotted fighters approaching the base, engaging with them in a fighting which lasted nearly one hour.
Al-Shabab claimed its fighters have seized the settlement and raised their black flag over the area, however, local officials denied the claims assuring that their troops are still in control of the area.
Al-shabab which has lost key strongholds to allied forces from the African Union and Somali government has stepped up its attacks across Somalia, attacking military bases and government institutions.
The latest assault shows the group is retaining capability to move across the country as parts of its deadly insurgency aimed at recapturing the areas it lost in the past few years.
Al-Shabab fighters have also recently recaptured towns and villages in south and central Somalia after allied forces have withdrawn.
Despite the challenges, Somalia’s prime minister has vowed his government would push militants out of the areas still under their control in 2016, a year Somalia proposed to hold presidential elections.