Al-Shabaab fighters in Somalia took control of a military base in the southern Jubbaland region on Tuesday, according to a Somali officer and a local.
It should be recalled that the army had taken control of the base in January.
The military and affiliated clan-based militias, who launched a significant offensive last year, have exerted significant pressure on Al-Shabaab, an affiliate of Al Qaeda. But the gang has frequently demonstrated its capacity to respond with significant attacks.
The absence of fighting over the previous week has fueled rumors in Somalia that the offensive is at a standstill. According to the government, it was only taking a break before beginning the subsequent round of operations.
Major Abdullahi Hussein reported from Kismayu that early in the morning, Al-Shabaab used a car bomb and gunfire to attack the base at Janay Abdale, which is located about 60 kilometres (37 miles) to the west of the port city of Kismayu.
He said that the army had sent reinforcements and that Al-Shabaab had shut off connections in the region.
The Jubbaland government claimed that regional and national forces had dealt Al-Shabaab a “major blow,” but it made no more mention of the attack. The number of casualties on either side was not immediately disclosed.
Halima Osman said her husband, who survived the attack and managed to get out of the base, had called her with a colleague’s phone.
“He told me they ran into the bush after the bombing and fierce fighting killed many of his friends and the military vehicles were burnt,” she told newsmen.
Al Shabaab confirmed it was behind the attack. “We control the base. We took all their weapons,” it said in a statement.
In January, Jubbaland-based troops took Janay Abdale from Al-Shabaab as part of an attack that started in the country’s center and then moved south.