Local residents in the town of Buulo Burto in central Somalia, have told reporters that a deadly attack by al Shabab militants have left dozens of people dead on late Tuesday.
Buulo Burto which is about 210 km north of the capital, Mogadishu has been a battlefield in the past between Shabab militants and African Union Peacekeepers (AMISOM).
The town was said to have been abandoned by Shabaab last week as a result of AMISOM troops advance on the town in a new offensive aimed to flush out the militants from the area.
Local reporters quoted residents as saying that Shabaab suicide bomber drove a car into the gate of a hotel used by African Union peacekeepers and detonated his explosives before gunmen stormed the building, spraying the building with bullets, killing many of the peacekeepers.
The Reuters African Service quoted a residents as saying that a lot of troops were killed as well as a local government official.
“Most of the troops and civilians inside the hotel died or were wounded. We couldn’t count how many died because AU and Somali forces swarmed all over the place,” the resident was quoted as saying.
The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISON) has strongly condemned the attack. The Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (SRCC), Ambassador Mahamat Saleh Annadif said in a statement that the attackers were cowards and that the mission would continue to pursue them.
“AMISOM today stands with the fallen soldiers, these are some of the inevitable setbacks that we encounter as we fight to purge Somalia of the terrorists,” Ambassador Annadif said. But he failed to disclose the number of soldiers killed.
But spokesman for Shabab was quoted by local reporters as saying that 32 soldiers were killed in the attack. His claim cannot be independent verified.
Two suspected Shabab militants were arrested in Kenya with explosives on Monday. They have been charged with planning a terror attack.
Al Shabab lost control of the capital, Mogadishu in 2011, but has intensified bombings and mortar raids in the city in recent weeks. Last month, Shabab fighters stormed the seat of government in Mogadishu and killed 11 people.
Issaka Adams / NationalTurk Africa News
Writer’s Email Address: Adamsisska@googlemail.com
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