MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Al Shabaab fighters battled Somali troops and allied forces for control of a strategic army base in central Somalia on Thursday, the government and a military official said, as the al Qaeda-linked militants tried to extend recent gains in the region.
Capturing the base in Wargaadhi town in the Middle Shabelle region, which houses soldiers, special forces and clan fighters, would enable al Shabaab to sever an important trunk road between the capital Mogadishu, 200 km (124 miles) to the southwest, and Galmudug State.
Al Shabaab, which has waged an insurgency in Somalia since 2007 to seize power, said in a statement that its fighters had captured the base and Wargaadhi town, something the government denied was the case.
The information ministry said in a statement that government forces had killed more than 40 jihadists after they attempted to attack the base on Thursday morning.
However, army officer Hussein Ali told Reuters the militants had taken the town of Wargaadhi after “fierce fighting”.
“Our forces lost 12 men, mostly (clan fighters). Around 20 al Shabaab fighters were also killed,” Ali said. “But finally al Shabaab got more reinforcements and managed to capture the town.”
He said Somalia’s military was struggling to send reinforcements because they would need to use routes passing through areas held by al Shabaab.
Two soldiers said the government forces, backed by air strikes, had managed to recapture part of the town by mid-morning.
Reuters could not independently verify any of the claims made by either side about the fighting.
Last week al Shabaab attacked the town of Adan Yabal, about 245 km (150 miles) north of Mogadishu which the military had been using as an operating base for raids on the group.
The attacks are part of an offensive by the group launched last month. Al Shabaab briefly captured villages within 50 km (30 miles) of Mogadishu, raising fears among residents of the capital that the city could be targeted.
Somali forces have since recaptured those villages but al Shabaab has continued to advance in the countryside, as the future of international security support to Somalia appears increasingly precarious.
A new African Union peacekeeping mission replaced a larger force at the start of the year, but its funding is uncertain, with the United States opposed to a plan to transition to a U.N. financing model.
(Reporting by Abdi Sheikh; Writing by Hereward Holland and Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Ammu Kannampilly and Gareth Jones)
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