Al-Shabaab militants attack African Union base near Mogadishu

The African Union AMISOM forcefighting in Somalia said on Thursday its troops repelled anattack on one of its bases by the al-Shabaab Islamist group andkilled 110 militants.

"AMISOM forces killed 110 al-Shabaab and captured a largecache of weapons," AMISOM spokesman Lt.-Col. Joe Kibettold Reuters by telephone, adding that a claim by al-Shabaabthat it had killed 60 AU soldiers was a "falsehood."

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Al-Shabaab initially said it had killed 43 Ethiopian soldierswhen it rammed a suicide car bomb into an AUmilitary base,butits military operations spokesman later said its fighters hadkilled 60, while 16 of its own fighters died in the attack onthe base in Halgan town, north of Mogadishu.

Residents near the base saidthey heard a huge explosion and heavy exchanges of gunfireshortly before dawn. Shots rang out at least an hour after theinitial blast, they said.

AMISOM, made up of troops from African nations supportingSomalia's Western-backed government and army in the fightagainst the al-Qaeda-linked militants, usually says it is up totroop-contributing countries to announce casualties.

"AU forcesfought back fiercely and repulsed al-Shabaab," Somali militaryofficer Major Abdifatah Elmi told Reuters from Bulaburde town inthe region.But he said he did not have figures.

"Several residents were injured by stray bullets," he said.

'Huge blast'

In the past, casualty figures cited by al-Shabaab have beenmuch higher than official numbers.

"Our fighters stormed the Halgan base of AMISOM," al-Shabaab's military operations spokesman Abdiasis Abu Musab toldReuters.

He said "several" al-Shabaab fighters died.

"It was a huge blast. It destroyed the gate and parts of thebase," the spokesman said, adding al-Shabaab fighters overranthe base and drove out the Ethiopian troops before withdrawing.

Al-Shabaab fighters also repelled a counter-attack byDjibouti troops deployed from another base in the area, he said.

The group often launches gun and bomb attacks on officials,Somali security forces and AMISOM in a bid to topple thegovernment and impose its own strict interpretation of Islam onSomalia.

In January, Kenyan troops serving with AMISOM suffered heavylosses when al-Shabaab made a dawn raid on their camp in ElAdde, near the Kenyan border. Al-Shabaab said it killed morethan 100 soldiers but Kenya gave no exact casualty figure.