Radical Islamist Shebab launched an attack on Friday against a base of the African Union force in Somalia (Atmis), about 120 kilometers southwest of the capital Mogadishu, Atomis said, without giving further details on a possible toll.
Al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabaab rebels have been fighting the internationally backed federal government since 2007. Driven out of the country's main cities in 2011-2012, they remain firmly established in large rural areas. They regularly carry out suicide attacks in this poor and unstable country in the Horn of Africa.
Promise of 'total war'
On Friday morning, "an Atmis base in Bulo Marer was attacked by Al-Shabab. Atmis forces are currently assessing the security situation," the African Union force in Somalia said in a tweet, without giving further details. Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud, who returned to power in May 2022, has vowed to launch an "all-out war" against al-Shabaab.
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The offensive, backed by African Union force in Somalia and U.S. airstrikes, has recaptured vast territories from two central states, Hirshabelle and Galmudug. But al-Shabaab continues to carry out bloody retaliatory attacks, showing its ability to strike in the heart of Somali cities and military installations.
On 29 October 2022, two car bombs exploded in Mogadishu, killing 121 people and injuring 333, the deadliest attack in five years in the country also affected by a historic drought. In a report to the UN Security Council in February, Antonio Guterres said 2022 had been the deadliest year for civilians in Somalia since 2017, largely because of al-Shabaab attacks.
