Fighters from the al-Shabab group have stormed a military base in central Somalia that the government had recaptured from them last year, killing at least seven soldiers, including the base commander.
A military officer in a nearby town, Captain Aden Nur, told newsmen that the assailants from the al-Qaeda affiliate rammed the base in the village of Hawadley with a suicide car bomb yesterday and then opened fire.
The base is located about sixty kilometer north of the capital, Mogadishu, and was wrested from al-Shabab’s control in October by government forces and allied clan militias.
The operation was part of a broader government offensive, which began in August and has made significant gains.
On Monday, the government announced it had captured Harardhere, an al-Shabab stronghold on the Indian Ocean coast that it had held for a decade.
As pressure on al-Shabab has grown, its fighters have struck back and have stepped up gun and bomb attacks on the military and civilians, including areas where they have retreated.
The group has been fighting since 2007 to topple Somalia’s central government and impose its strict interpretation of Islamic law.
