By RFIPissed on 09-16-2019 Modified the 16-09-2019 at 04:25

At least 12 Burundian soldiers from the African Union Mission in Somalia died on Saturday (September 14th) and a dozen others were injured in an attack by al-Qaeda jihadists in Somalia, the Shebabs.

Their convoy was attacked as they returned to their base on a strategic route that connects the capital and the Middle Shabelle region. Amisom's military convoy was returning from Mogadishu. His mission, routine, was to accompany supply trucks from Jowhar, a large town 90 km northwest, to the markets of the capital.

Around the village of Balcad, halfway between the two cities, the convoy was ambushed by a commando group of al-Shabab . According to witnesses, the deadly fighting lasted about twenty minutes.

This road, and this town of Balcad, are known to be dangerous. On the morning of the attack, a booby-trapped machine killed two local government officials and their driver nearby. And last year, in March 2018, five Burundian soldiers had already lost their lives in the same place in a similar attack by al-Shabab's ultra-mobile commandos.

Despite the efforts of Amisom, the battle to secure this route is not yet won. It represents an important strategic issue for the Somali authorities as it connects the agricultural region of the large city of Jowhar with Mogadishu. The jihadists see it as an opportunity to show that they are always present and active in the Somali countryside.

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