President condemns attack on AU base in Beledweyne

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Somalia’s caretaker president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has condemned the Tuesday morning attack on the AU mission in Somalia (AMISOM) base in Beledweyne city, terming it “heinous and unforgiveable”.

At least two Djiboutian peacekeepers are known to have been killed, and several injured in a truck bomb attack on AMISOM base at the west of Beledweyne, about 350Km north of Somali capital, Mogadishu.

In a statement, Mr Mohamoud sent a heartfelt condolences to the families who lost their loved ones in the Al Shabaab attack, saying that their courageous sacrifice to stabilize Somalia will not be forgotten.

Somali president spoke to his Djibouti-an counterpart Ismail Omar Gelleh over the phone, and condoled to Djibouti-an government and its people for those killed in car bombing on AU base in Baladweyne city.

President Mohamud also stated that despite the gruesome attack on the AMISOM forces, they will not relent in the fight against the Al Qaeda-affiliated Al Shabaab militants.

In a Twitter post, AMISOM said a bomber detonated a truck packed with explosives outside the gate of Djibouti-an force base, then 10 suspected Al shabaab fighters tried to force their way onto the ground.

AU mission said reinforcement AMISOM soldiers from a nearby base was rushed to the camp and killed all attackers. The situation swiftly brought under control.

Meanwhile, Al Shabaab said it killed up to 17 Djibouti-an soldiers serving with the African Union mission in Somalia in Tuesday’s attack on AMISOM base, a claim that AMISOM has denied.