More than 20 people were killed Wednesday in fighting between government soldiers and Islamist insurgents in central Somalia, witnesses and officials said. Al-Shabaab fighters attacked a Somali National Army base in El-Hareri, a village in the Galguduud region, before dawn.
The commander of the base, Colonel Ahmed Mohamed, told VOA’s Somali service that 18 militants, five government soldiers and a civilian were killed during the fighting.
“They attacked our base with hundreds of heavily armed fighters and 10 battle wagons mounted with machine guns,” he said. “We managed to repulse the attack, and our troops then counterattacked.” Each side lost a vehicle in the clash, he said. Abulle Idow, a resident contacted via telephone, said locals went to the base after the fighting and saw more than 20 dead bodies.
More than 10 militants and two government soldiers were injured in the attack, government officials said.
Radio Andalus, Al-Shabaab’s mouthpiece in Somalia, reported that the militants had initially seized control of the base and killed more a dozen government soldiers, but Mohamed denied that.