Four Ugandans die in base blitz

HEAVILY armed al-Shabaab militants attacked an African Union military camp outside Mogadishu at the weekend, killing four Ugandan peacekeepers, their army said.

Local sources said a massive blast was heard in the Bulomarer district, about 150km south of Mogadishu, and fighting broke out after dozens of heavily armed al-Shabaab militants stormed the base on Sunday.

“The heavy blast struck the base before fighting broke out. We are hearing the militants used a minibus loaded with explosives to make their way in before the heavily armed confrontation started at the camp,” security official Ibrahim Abdilahi said.

A witness, Mohamed Sharif, said: “There was heavy fighting and we could see smoke rising above the military base.”

Ugandan army spokesman Brigadier Richard Karemire said his army had lost four gallant soldiers and six had sustained minor injuries.

He said 30 al-Shabaab militants had been killed, while the Islamists claimed in a statement to have killed 59 Ugandan soldiers.

The al-Qaeda linked Shabaab was pushed out of the Somali capital in 2011 – and subsequently other towns and cities – by soldiers from the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom).

But the Islamists still hold sway in large parts of the countryside and launch regular gun and bomb attacks on government, military and civilian targets in Mogadishu and ambushes on military convoys and outposts.

East African leaders contributing to the 22 000-strong Amisom force last month called for the UN to reconsider plans to withdraw troops by December 2020, saying the timeline was unrealistic and could lead to a reversal of gains.