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5 Al Shabaab militants killed in revenge attack on Somalia base

Assault was retaliation for U.S. airstrike that killed leader, militant spokesman says

By Ben Hooper
Somalian President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and his wife Qamar Ali Omar arrive at the White House for a State Dinner on behalf of the U.S-Africa Leaders Summit, Aug. 5, 2014. File Photo by Mike Theiler/UPI
Somalian President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and his wife Qamar Ali Omar arrive at the White House for a State Dinner on behalf of the U.S-Africa Leaders Summit, Aug. 5, 2014. File Photo by Mike Theiler/UPI | License Photo

MOGADISHU, Somalia, Dec. 25 (UPI) -- The African Union said five militants with the Al-Shabaab group in Somalia were killed in a Christmas Day attack on an AU base in the country.

An Al Shabaab spokesman said the attack was in retaliation for a U.S. airstrike that killed Al Shabaab leader Ahmed Godane.

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The African Union Mission in Somalia, or AMISOM, said three AU soldiers and a civilian were wounded Thursday when Al-Shabaab militants attacked the Halane military base in Mogadishu.

"AMISOM base is safe and under control," officials said on the official AMISOM Twitter account Thursday. "The AMISOM soldiers are commended for their gallant effort in controlling the situation."

AMISOM spokesman Ali Aden Houmed said two militants died when they detonated suicide bombs inside the base and three others were shot and killed during fighting with the AU soldiers.

Sheikh Abdiaziz Abu Musab, a spokesman for Al-Shabaab, which is linked to al-Qaida, confirmed the group was behind the attack.

"Our Mujahedeen forces detonated a car bomb at the entrance of the Halane compound ... then managed to enter the facility," he told pro-Al-Shabaab broadcaster Radio Andalus.

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There are currently about 20,000 AU troops in Somalia as part of the U.N backed AMISOM, which began in 2007.

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