MOGADISHU // Somalia’s Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabab militants stormed an African Union base manned by Kenyan troops in the country’s south-west on Friday, with several killed in fierce gun battles.
“Regrettably some of our patriots in uniform paid the ultimate price,” said Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta as he offered condolences to the families of those killed, without giving details of how many died.
Somali army colonel Idris Ahmed said an Al Shabab suicide commando blasted into the El Adde base in the Gedo region, which borders Kenya and Ethiopia, in a predawn attack.
“There was [a] suicide attack followed by the fighting and it seems that the base was stormed,” Col Ahmed said.
Both Somali troops and Kenyan soldiers with the AU force, Amisom, are deployed at the isolated base.
Al Shabab spokesman Abdiaziz Abu Musab claimed that 63 Kenyan troops had been killed, but this could not be immediately verified.
Al Shabab frequently exaggerates the number of troops they kill, while Amisom rarely gives exact tolls.
Local elder Hussein Adam said he heard a huge explosion followed by intense gunfire for about 45 minutes.
“We don’t know about the casualties, but people who went there saw many dead bodies strewn around,” he said.
The attack came as politicians met in the southern port of Kismayo, with president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud leading a “National Consultative Forum” to debate planned elections due later this year.
“Somalia is no longer a failed state,” said Mr Mohamud, making no reference to the attack.
Al Shabab, fighting to overthrow Somalia’s internationally-backed government has launched a string of similar attacks.
Last September, the group’s fighters stormed a Ugandan Amisom base in Janale district, 80 kilometres south-west of Mogadishu in the Lower Shabelle region.
And in June, Al Shabab killed dozens of Burundian soldiers when they overran an Amisom outpost north-west of Mogadishu.
The militants have also staged attacks in Kenya, killing at least 67 people at Nairobi’s Westgate Mall in 2013 and massacring 148 people at a university in Garissa last April.
They say the attacks are retaliation for the Kenyan military presence in Somalia.
* Agence France-Presse
Pros%20and%20cons%20of%20BNPL
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Four motivational quotes from Alicia's Dubai talk
“The only thing we need is to know that we have faith. Faith and hope in our own dreams. The belief that, when we keep going we’re going to find our way. That’s all we got.”
“Sometimes we try so hard to keep things inside. We try so hard to pretend it’s not really bothering us. In some ways, that hurts us more. You don’t realise how dishonest you are with yourself sometimes, but I realised that if I spoke it, I could let it go.”
“One good thing is to know you’re not the only one going through it. You’re not the only one trying to find your way, trying to find yourself, trying to find amazing energy, trying to find a light. Show all of yourself. Show every nuance. All of your magic. All of your colours. Be true to that. You can be unafraid.”
“It’s time to stop holding back. It’s time to do it on your terms. It’s time to shine in the most unbelievable way. It’s time to let go of negativity and find your tribe, find those people that lift you up, because everybody else is just in your way.”
Origin
Dan Brown
Doubleday
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The Land between Two Rivers: Writing in an Age of Refugees
Tom Sleigh, Graywolf Press
MEFCC information
Tickets range from Dh110 for an advance single-day pass to Dh300 for a weekend pass at the door. VIP tickets have sold out. Visit www.mefcc.com to purchase tickets in advance.
yallacompare profile
Date of launch: 2014
Founder: Jon Richards, founder and chief executive; Samer Chebab, co-founder and chief operating officer, and Jonathan Rawlings, co-founder and chief financial officer
Based: Media City, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: 120 employees
Investors: 2014: $500,000 in a seed round led by Mulverhill Associates; 2015: $3m in Series A funding led by STC Ventures (managed by Iris Capital), Wamda and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority; 2019: $8m in Series B funding with the same investors as Series A along with Precinct Partners, Saned and Argo Ventures (the VC arm of multinational insurer Argo Group)
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
