SNA confirms 20 Al Shabaab militants killed in military base attack

Al Shabaab is linked to al Qaeda and wants to impose strict Islamic law in Somalia.

A Somalia National Army (SNA) official has confirmed that at least 20 Al-Shabaab militants were killed and several others injured on Sunday morning.

The incident happened after terrorists invaded a military base in the outskirts of Somalia's coastal city of Kismayo.

According to Xinhua news, Sahardid noted that the attack at Buulo Guduud, some 30 kilometers north of Kismayo also caused casualties on both sides.

"Terrorists attacked our base in Buulo Guduud with suicide car bomb attacks, then fighting erupted causing casualties on both sides. We resisted the militants and killed 20 fighters during the operation, we are in control of the base now," Sahardid said.

He, however, did not provide the number of casualties on the SNA side and denied that the militants seized some vehicles.

Al-Shabaab militants claimed they killed 25 soldiers, recovered three vehicles and took large amount of ammunition from SNA.

The insurgents have recently increased their attacks against the African Union (AU) and Somalia forces, especially in Mogadishu and southern Somalia.

The AU and Somali forces have also increased airstrikes in southern Somalia in the recent past, resulting in the killing of several militants and some defections.