Mogadishu, Somalia – Six Somali government forces were wounded in an armed attack targeting a military barracks in the Foley district, a suburb of the capital, Mogadishu.
It was carried out by fighters from the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab movement, according to local security sources.
The movement attacked a military site.
A security official in Mogadishu said, according to local media, that armed elements
from the movement attacked a military site with rockets and machine guns.
This was before government forces exchanged fire with them for more than half an hour.
Noting that the attack resulted in the injury of at least six soldiers,
the attackers fled towards rural areas south of the capital.
The source added that security forces intensified their deployment in the area following the attack.
A search operation has been launched in search of the attackers,
while the Somali Ministry of Defense has yet to issue any official comment.
The movement recognizes
For its part, the Al-Shabaab movement claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement published on its propaganda platforms.
Confirming that it “targeted Somali army positions and caused human and material losses.”
American raids
The attack comes days after an airstrike carried out by US forces in coordination
with the Somali army in the Middle Juba region.
It resulted in the killing of a prominent leader in the movement, Mahmoud Abdi Hamoud (Jafar Gore),
One of its founders and responsible for external security.
Somalia has witnessed an escalation in Al-Shabaab attacks since the beginning of the year.
In an attempt to prove its ability to confront the intense strikes,
Which it received from the Somali army and the African Union Mission in Iraq (ATMIS).
Observers say the movement is seeking to move its operations from
the countryside to the outskirts of Mogadishu.
To create a state of security and political pressure on the Somali government.
