Somalia: an African Union base targeted by an attack claimed by the Shebabs

2022-05-03T21:17:01.357Z

The Al-Shabaab Islamists carried out an attack on Tuesday May 3 against a base of the African Union force in Somalia, Atmis. The armed group targeted in the early morning a base held by soldiers…

Somalia: an African Union base targeted by an attack claimed by the Shebabs

African Union peacekeepers near Mogadishu airport, April 27, 2022. © Feisal Omar / Reuters

Text by: RFI Follow

2 mins

The Al-Shabaab Islamists carried out an attack on Tuesday May 3 against a base of the African Union force in Somalia, Atmis.

The armed group targeted in the early morning a base held by Burundian soldiers in El Baraf, located about 150 km northeast of the capital Mogadishu.

If the extremists claim to have killed dozens of soldiers, this information is impossible to verify for the moment.

After a

series of spectacular attacks at the end of March in several places in the

country, the Shebabs are once again making their mark.

According to several sources, the terrorists attacked El Baraf before dawn, detonating vehicle bombs against the entrance gate of the base, before launching an assault on foot with their men entering the interior of the building.

This type of double attack is widely used by the group against sites placed under high security.

Several witnesses speak of heavy fighting and casualties on both sides, and local sources and state broadcasters confirmed that two heavy explosions and exchanges of small arms fire were heard for more than an hour. .

The Shebabs then released photos of dead Burundian soldiers and claimed during the day that they had taken control of the base.

Announcement confirmed by a witness, quoted by AFP.

But helicopters from the African force would have intervened as reinforcements to repel the attackers.

The government of Somalia in a statement condemns the attack and asks for help from the international community.

The Federal Government of Somalia condemns in the strongest possible terms the heinous attack targeting ATMIS in Elbaraf, Middle Shabelle.

🔗➡https://t.co/oK2wNFoTWP pic.twitter.com/EBMxyd64oA

— Ministry of Foreign Affairs 🇸🇴 (@MOFASomalia) May 3, 2022

The locality of El-Baraf is located at a strategic crossroads between the north and the center of Somalia, in the Middle Shabelle region.

It was taken over by

African Union troops

in 2016, after having been administered by the Shebabs for a long time.

The military site is a FOB, an advanced base, most often used to protect a city or a supply route.

At the end of last year, the African force had about 70 across the country.

But the NGO International Crisis Group had pointed out the vulnerability of some, built far from the big cities and isolated, with soldiers rarely leaving the site to carry out patrols.

ICG had suggested dismantling some of them to reassign these soldiers to offensive operations aimed at tracking down the Shebabs.

If the jihadist group immediately claimed responsibility for this attack, the Somali authorities have not yet reacted officially and no assessment has been communicated by the

African Union transition mission in Somalia (Atmis), the former Amisom

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To read also:
Somalia: how the Shebabs govern themselves and arm themselves

Somalia: an African Union base targeted by an attack claimed by the Shebabs

Somalia: an African Union base targeted by an attack claimed by the Shebabs

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