MOGADISHU – At least four Somali military soldiers have been killed and several others injured in ambush attack launched by Al Shabaab near Balcad town, some 31km northeast of Mogadishu.
The attack happened in Il-baq area near the town, after roadside bomb explosion tore through a military vehicle carrying soldiers near Balcad, leaving 4 soldiers dead on board, a witness said.
He says Al Shabaab fighters armed with RPGs and machine-guns had ambushed the soldiers following the explosion, triggering fierce clash.
Kasim Ali Nour, Balcad district commissioner, told VOA that the military soldiers had repulsed the surprise assault orchestrated by Al Shabaab.
Nour added that the soldiers were chasing the militants, who carried out Wednesday’s ambush attack near Balcad town.
The pro-militants’ website published that the armed fighters had targeted a military vehicle full of soldiers with a RPG, killing at least 5 government soldiers on board.
It says a senior military official, whose name has been released as Mukhtar Jarer had been among those killed in the attack.
The Islamist militant group al-Shabab is battling the UN-backed government in Somalia, and has carried out a string of attacks across Somalia.
