Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Al-Shabaab attack Ethiopian military base in Somalia | GlobalPost

ilitants from the Islamist al-Shabaab group today drove a truck filled with explosives into an Ethiopian military base in central Somalia.

Clone of Somalia news ethiopia withdraws 2012 1 6
Ethiopia wants to pull out its troops from Somalia. Here, the first African Union contingent from Djibouti arrive at Mogadishu’s Adan Ade international airport on December 20, 2011. (Mohamed Abdiwahab/AFP/Getty Images)

Militants from the Islamist al-Shabaab group today drove a truck filled with explosives into an Ethiopian military base in central Somalia,Reuters reported.

More on GlobalPost: Mogadishu attempts to evict Al-Shabaab

The al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab said 10 Ethiopian soldiers died in the attack, in the town of Beladweyne, near the Ethiopian border. The casualty count has not been officially confirmed.

Military official Hussein Aden told Reuters :

"A minibus carrying explosives entered Baladweyne administration headquarters compound. Government soldiers tried to stop it by firing but all in vain."

The BBC reported that Beledweyne had been wrestled from the al-Shabaab's control earlier this month.

Al-Shabaab is seeking to drive Somali's Transitional Federal Government, which is backed by African Union troops, from power and impose Sharia law.

Claiming responsibility for the attack, the group's spokesman, Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, told Reuters:

"We carried the car bomb successfully into the Ethiopian and Somali base in Baladweyne this morning. Our brave driver is martyred. There we killed many Ethiopian and Somali troops on a parade."

Ethiopian and Kenyan forces entered Somalia following a series of cross-border attacks, but Ethiopia is looking to withdraw, the BBC reported.

Its troops are to be replaced by those from the African Union mission in Somalia, AMISOM, but a time-limit has not been set.

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