The Al Qaeda linked group of Al Shabaab has displayed the bodies of what it said were Somali military troops following a day of fierce clashes and suicide bomb attack on army camp in Sanguni area, some 59km north of the coastal town of Kismayo.
The group says the 2 bodies and six other soldiers, who had also been captured alive were paraded in Jamame town, about some 60km away from Kismayo.
Both the al Qaeda-inspired al Shabaab and the embattled Western-backed government claimed victory in Monday’s attack that left dozens dead.
Abdiasis Abu Musab, al-Shabab’s spokesman, said attackers overran the base in Sanguni, after twine car bombs detonated at the military base as gunmen stormed into the camp.
He says the group’s fighters killed 27 military soldiers during the attack on the army camp.
But, a statement by Somali government said that the military forces had repulsed the attack launched by Al Shabaab.
The statement said the military forces killed 87 militants during the gun fight with the armed fighters.
Somali military forces with Regional soldiers from Jubaland launched fresh offensive against Al Shabaab, in a bid to response to the attack in Sanguni.
The joint forces with battle wagons reportedly reached Arare area, which is close to Jamame, a town held by Somali insurgents
The al Qaeda-inspired al Shabaab, which wants to impose its strict interpretation of Islam in Somalia, has carried out frequent past attacks in Mogadishu and elsewhere in its bid to topple the Western-backed government and drive out African Union troops.
Somalia has been at war since 1991, when clan-based militias overthrew long-time leader Siad Barre and then turned on each other.
With reporting by Abdirisak Mohamud Tuuryare from Mogadishu, Somalia
