The attack on Burundian soldiers in the northeast of the country would have made many victims, according to an unconfirmed provisional assessment. Violence has resumed at a sustained pace in this country undermined by the civil war.
Le Monde with AFP
Radical Islamist militants Chabab heavily armed on Tuesday stormed a military base for the peacekeeping force of the African Union (AU) in Somalia, causing victims, learned the France Presse ( AFP) with a local military commander and witnesses. The attack, conducted before dawn, targeted a base housing Burundian soldiers from the African transitional mission in Somalia (atmis) near the village of Ceel Baraf, 160 km north-east of the capital Mogadishu, according to these Sources.
A Burundian military official told AFP that a thirty soldiers were killed and 22 others injured, and a dozen others are missing. No confirmation of this assessment was immediately available from Somali or AU officials.
“Terrorists attacked the Burundian army base early this morning near Ceel Baraf, there have been violent fights and victims on both sides but we have no more details so far” The local military commander Mohamed Ali told AFP. “They launched the attack with the explosion of a car before an exchange of nourished fire,” he added.
“Armed men Chabab attacked the base early in the morning, there were strong explosions and exchanges of automatic weapons. The Burundians left the base to enter the village of Ceel Baraf before helicopters come to provide air support, “said a Weliyow Maalim resident. “The helicopters have pulled missiles and machine guns, we have seen smoke rising above the base but we know nothing about the exact situation,” said another witness, Ahmed Adan.
“effectively fight terrorism”
According to the Burundian military source, around 400 jihadist fighters attacked the base after having hung two cars. The Burundian soldiers then fell back on a neighboring hill where they continued to defend themselves, supported by drones and helicopters.
The Somali government declared that it “condemned in the strongest terms the odious attack targeting the atmis” and called on the international community to do more to support the Somali forces and the atmis “in order to fight effectively terrorism “. The chairman of the AU commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, said on Twitter that he had met with the president of Burundi, Evariste Ndayishimiye, to present his respects for the “sacrifice” of the peacekeepers who have lost their life.
The Chabab, linked to Al-Qaeda and who have been carrying out an insurrection against the Somali State for over ten years, claimed the attack in a statement. They claimed to have taken control of the base and killed 173 AU soldiers. The Chabab also broadcast a video showing bodies seeming to be those of soldiers, according to the American NGO Site Intelligence. The given assessment and the video could not be verified independently.
The Chababs have intensified their attacks
The strength of the atmis, whose workforce represents nearly 20,000 soldiers, police and civilians, from African countries, has formally replaced the African peacekeeping force in Somalia (Amisom) with a prolonged end March by the UN Security Council until the end of 2024 to stabilize the country in the face of the Islamist insurrection Chabab.
The Amisom chased the Chabab from the main cities of the country, including the capital Mogadishu in 2011, allowing the installation of a government and federal institutions as well as the holding of two election cycles (2012, 2017 ) and the organization of a third which should end in the coming weeks. In recent months, the Chabab, affiliated with Al-Qaeda and which remain established in large rural areas, have intensified their attacks in the country, claiming in particular two spectacular attacks on March 24.
Tuesday’s attack comes less than a week after the designation of the presidents of the two chambers, a key stage, for the election of the president of Somalia. International partners have expressed their concerns about the deadlines in the electoral process, which according to them distract the government of the fight against the Chabab or the risks of famine in the country.