Dozens of soldiers were killed Friday when Somalia's Shebab insurgents overran an African Union base, witnesses said, describing intense fighting which left corpses strewn around.
"The fighting was the heaviest ever around this area, the Shebab fighters took full control of the base and killed many soldiers," said Alinur Mohamed, a local elder in Lego village, 100 kilometers (62 miles) northwest of the capital Mogadishu.
Full StoryDozens of soldiers were killed Friday when Somalia's Shebab insurgents overran an African Union base, witnesses said, describing intense fighting which left corpses strewn around.
"The fighting was the heaviest ever around this area, the Shebab fighters took full control of the base and killed many soldiers," said Alinur Mohamed, a local elder in Lego village, 100 kilometers (62 miles) northwest of the capital Mogadishu.
Full StoryForeign fighters with Somalia's Shebab insurgents pose a risk to Europe if troops fail to stop them, Kenya's deputy president warned Thursday, days after the first British jihadi was killed in Kenya.
"Foreign fighters from far afield, some from Europe, are in the field here in the Horn of Africa," Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto said, speaking at conference in Nairobi on countering violent extremism.
Full StorySomalia's Shebab insurgents killed at least six people Wednesday in a suicide attack on a diplomatic convoy from the United Arab Emirates in the Somali capital Mogadishu, police and the Islamists said.
"We have confirmed the death of six people, four of them civilians, while six others were also wounded, some seriously," police officer Abdukadir Hassan told AFP.
Full StoryKenya has lifted anti-terrorism restrictions on the biggest money transfer company working in Somalia put in place after April's Garissa university massacre, the company said Monday.
"We are delighted to resume our services in Kenya," said Abdirashid Duale, chief executive of Dahabshiil, the biggest of 13 companies banned more than two months ago.
Full StorySomalia's security agency said Monday it carried out a night raid on key targets inside a Shebab-controled town in southern Somalia, targeting "senior" commanders.
Internal security spokesman Mohamed Yusuf Osman said that members of the U.S.-trained National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) carried out the attack inside Bardhere town, a stronghold of the Somali-led Al-Qaida affiliate in Gedo region.
Full StoryShebab militants launched a major suicide attack on Sunday against a military intelligence base in the capital Mogadishu, setting off a car bomb before storming inside, security officials said.
Somalia's interior ministry said the three attackers were all killed in the raid, and that Somali security forces who fought them suffered no casualties.
Full StoryBritain has relaxed travel warnings for Kenya's Indian Ocean coastal regions, a key tourist region critical to the country's economy.
Restrictions put in place in March due to fears of attacks by the Somali-led Shebab insurgents along most of the coast were lifted late Thursday by London's Foreign Office.
Full StorySomali security forces shot dead four suspected Shebab insurgents on Thursday, foiling an attack on a political conference in the central town of Adado, officials said.
More than 400 local politicians, leaders and clan elders were meeting in the town to discuss the formation of a regional government when the gunmen tried to storm the building, with one blowing himself up in a bid to breach the gates.
Full StoryKenya's president vowed Wednesday to keep troops in Somalia to fight Islamist Shebab rebels, apparently dismissing suggestions the country may be drawing up an exit strategy in order to focus on attacks on its own soil.
Kenyan troops crossed into Somalia in 2011 to fight the Al-Qaida-affiliated insurgents, and later joined the African Union force, AMISOM, which is supporting Somalia's internationally-backed government.
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