Al-Shabaab Attacks U.S. Military Base, EU Convoy in Somalia

(Bloomberg) -- Al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda-linked militant group in the Horn of Africa, attacked a U.S. military base near Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, and detonated a car bomb targeting a European Union military convoy.

“We are aware that the al-Shabaab militants detonated two car bombs at the U.S. army base in Balidoogle area today,” Abdirahman Muse Ali, a Somalia army officer, said by phone. “Armed fighters also attacked the base from different directions.”

Soldiers at the base repulsed the attackers, which led to casualties on both sides, Ali said. The U.S. uses the facility to train Somalia National Army troops, he said.

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In the second incident, militants rammed a vehicle loaded with explosives into a European Union convoy of Italian military advisers near a military-training academy in Mogadishu, according to Ahmed Mohamed, a police officer.

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