MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – A senior Burundian military official said on Wednesday that about 30 African Union peacekeepers from his country were killed and a dozen more were missing after Al-Shabaab militants stormed a military base in south Somalia on Tuesday.
Speaking to AFP news agency, the high-ranking Burundian military officer said about 400 insurgents attacked a base housing Burundi’s African Union troops outside the town of El-baraf, some 160 km north of the capital Mogadishu.
Troops retreated to a nearby hillside to try to fight under support of helicopters and drones, he added. Apart from those killed and the number of others missing, he said 22 soldiers were wounded in the assault.
Al-Shabaab said on Tuesday it had killed 173 Burundian soldiers in the raid and had taken an unspecified number of others prisoners. Photos released by the group appeared to show armored military vehicles and weapons it had seized as well as dozens of dead bodies of Burundian soldiers. read more
The United States condemned Tuesday’s attack on the Burundian forward operating base in the Middle Shabelle region, which was expected to be handed over to the Somali army within weeks, and extended “condolences to the families of troops killed”.
African Union Commission chair Moussa Faki Mahamat said on Tuesday he had spoken to Burundi’s President about “peacekeepers who lost their lives in the line of duty following a terrorist attack” in Somalia. “They will never be forgotten,” he added.
Somali government condemned the “heinous attack” and appealed to the international community to further increase support on the fight against terrorism. Both the AU and Somali authorities have not yet disclosed the extent of casualties suffered by the attacked Burundian troops.
Analysts described Al-Shabaab attack on Burundian military base in El-baraf as the deadliest since El Adde in 2016, in which some 200 Kenyan soldiers had been killed.
In a statement, Al-Shabaab said its leadership had authorized to allow residents to take some of the equipment left behind ATMIS soldiers and track down the defeated Burundian troops. Footage circulated online showed residents pillaging the base, shortly after it was seized by insurgents.
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