Sunday April 26, 2020
FILE PHOTO - Al Jazeera
Somali and the African Union forces on Friday destroyed two al-Shabab explosive vehicles and foiled a suicide bomb attack at the AU mission’s base in Barawe city, about 270kms southwest of Mogadishu.
The Somali government said the Somali National Army (SNA) and Ugandan soldiers who are part of AMISOM successfully blew up the two vehicles laden with explosives that were intended to be used in a suicide attack on the base.
“No Ugandan or Somali troops were killed or wounded during the operation,” the ministry of information said in a statement issued in Mogadishu.
The Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) spokesman Richard Karemire had earlier said the Ugandan contingent thwarted efforts by the militants to overrun the AU base.
“The UPDF in Barawe has this morning foiled an attempted al-Shabab attack on its position. The forces in ambush successfully blew two enemy vehicles loaded with dangerous explosives. No soldier was injured in the fight and high alert is being maintained,” said Karemire.
He said the Ugandan soldiers “were commended by the community for securing Barawe Airport by giving a bloody nose to the attackers”.
The Somali and African Union forces have been on major offensives against the extremists in central and southern Somali regions, but the militants still hold swaths of territory in those regions, conducting ambushes and planting roadside bombs.