At least seven soldiers sustained injuries in Southern Somalia when a suicide car bomb hit a military base in outskirts of Kismayo town.
Al-Shabab fights have increased their attacks against Somali government which is backed by continental troops drawn from five countries.
Major Hussein Ali, Somali National Army (SNA) officer who spoke to the media has confirmed the attack which took place late Saturday.
Ali said suicide car bomb explosion at a military base caused injuries and other destructions.
“We fired (at) the suicide car bomb before it entered the base. It exploded outside the base. Only seven Somali soldiers were injured,” Ali told Reuters.
The assault was on the same base where a U.S. soldier was killed in an attack late on Friday.
Al-Shabab claimed responsibility of Saturday attack and said they killed 40 Somali soldiers.
“We killed 40 Somali soldiers in the base,” Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab’s military operations spokesman, told Reuters.
“The foreign forces ran away from the base this morning because we attacked them on Friday. We targeted the Somali forces that were in the base,” he added.
On Friday, one U.S. special force soldier was killed and four others wounded after heavily Al-Shabab fighters stormed the same base, prompting hours of fighting between the sides.
Both Al-Shabab and U.S. military confirmed the incident which is the first casualty on U.S. military in Africa since March after Niger attack.
In recent past, Alshabab stepped up its attacks aimed at toppling the internationally recognized Somali government.
The group staged seven deadly attacks on Somali Military bases in South and Central Somalia.
Among the bases the group attacked are in Kismayo, Kulbiyow, Moqokori, Bali-Khadar and Bal’ad towns.
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