Somalia’s al Shabaab insurgents and troops from the African Union peacekeeping mission have clashed today Sunday in a fierce fight international new source Reuters has reported.
UPDF spokesperson, Brig Richard Karemire, said a joint Somali National Army [SNA], African Union Mission in Somalia [AMISO and UPDF patrol under 7th Battalion of Battle group twenty two was ambushed by Al-Shabaab terrorists today.
Karemire says a lot of damage was inflicted on the enemy “while our troops took fatalities whose number is yet to be ascertained and will be made known as the situation evolves”.
The incident took place in Bulamareer district in Lower Shabelle region about 140 km southwest of Mogadishu.
The al Shabaab fighters ambushed a convoy carrying troops from the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), Col. Hassan Mohamed, told Reuters.
“The ambush turned into a fierce fight between al Shabaab and AMISOM. We understand fighting is still going on but we do not have the figure of casualties,” he told Reuters.
Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab’s military operation spokesman, said: “We have in hand 39 dead bodies of AU soldiers including their commander.”
A military source said the attacked soldiers are from the Uganda People’s Defence Force [UPDF] contingent.
“Al Shaabab claims it killed 40 UPDF soldiers today. Those are unconfirmed reports but they did ambush our troops along river Shebbelle,” the source said.
The casualty figure could not be immediately independently verified.
Voice of America reports that 10 UPDF soldiers were killed in the ambush.
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