At least 28 people are killed an an unknown number of others wounded today in the Somali town of Baladweyne, near the border with Ethiopia, after the al-Shabaab faction took over a police compound in a raid.
Al-Shabaab reported that the attack targeted Djibouti soldiers who were at the base at the time, though the African Union insisted none of their soldiers were among the casualties.
The official Somali government toll was that 10 militants, 11 police and seven civilians were killed in the fighting, and they reported AU troops were “lightly injured” while spraying down the captured compound with machine gun fire.
Multiple disputed stories about an incident are common in Somalia, particularly where the African Union are concerned. Somali President Hassan Mohamud condemned the attack as “stupid.”
