MOGADISHU (Somaligaurdian) – African Union peacekeepers in Somalia said they would put Halane base in Mogadishu, which is home to several diplomatic missions, on lockdown on Friday to conduct security checks, a week after the camp was hit by deadly Al-Shabaab gun attack.
“AMISOM will be conducting security exercise within the Base Camp on 1st April 2022. In other to allow seamless security checks, the base camp will be under total camp lockdown on the above mentioned date,” the peacekeeping mission said in a statement on Thursday
“Critical services personnel will be cleared and facilitated. Airport operations and travellers will continue to be facilitated through Airport gate. Work will resume on 2 April 2022.”
It comes after two fighters of the Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab burst their way into the base on March 23 and battled African Union peacekeepers and Somali security forces for hours, killing a number of foreign nationals. Militants said they had killed 17 foreigners including “four senior western officials” in the assault, a claim yet to be confirmed by authorities. read more
AU peacekeepers said they would set up more security checkpoints within the camp and construction sites would be swept by sniffer dogs used by AMISOM and the United Nations.
Last month, local media reported that African Union peacekeepers had created security buffer outside the base and Mogadishu airport in an effort to counter potential security threats and attacks by insurgents.
An unfounded warning of imminent militant attack fueled panic at Adan Adde International Airport in Mogadishu this week, sending terrified travelers and employees streaming out of the terminals of the fear-gripped facility, according to local media. read more
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