Somalia’s Al-Shabab Attack Hotel With AU Troops

Amisom and Somali government forces march around Bulo-burde after its capture last week.

Amisom and Somali government forces march around Bulo-burde after its capture last week.
Amisom and Somali government forces march around Bulo-burde after its capture last week.

Somali Islamist fighters have attacked a hotel in a strategic central town the militants lost control of last week.

A car bomb exploded outside the hotel in Bulo-burde where African Union (AU) peacekeepers and Somali army commanders were staying.

Gunfire continued for five hours and about 14 people – fighters from all sides.

The al-Shabab Islamist group said it was behind the attack and that 30 AU and army commanders had been killed.

The authorities have yet to comment on the attack and communications to the central Hiran region went down not long after the fighting and gunfire ended.

Al-Shabab, which is linked to al-Qaeda, has waged an eight-year insurgency to overthrow the weak UN-backed government and create an Islamic state in Somalia.

Witnesses said the car blast happened at 02:00 local time (23:00 GMT) and the fighting went on till about 07:00.

Somalia's militants have pledged loyalty to al-Qaeda.
Somalia’s militants have pledged loyalty to al-Qaeda.

About 24 people were also wounded in the raid and have been taken to hospital, they said

Our correspondent says al-Shabab had occupied Bulo-burde for more than five years.

The town, which has a strategic bridge over the River Shabelle and is at a crossroads linking various regions of the country, was an important base for al-Shabab.

Bulo-burde was captured as part of an ongoing AU and government offensive against al-Shabab, which controls much of south and central Somalia.

BBC

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