MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – Over 20 Somali government soldiers were killed in a militant ambush near the town of Afgoye, some 30km west of the capital Mogadishu, military officials have confirmed.
The casualties have come after Al-Shabaab militants ambushed Somali government troops on their way from the town of Afgoye to reinforce other military convoy attacked elsewhere in the region on Wednesday afternoon.
Military officials say most of the casualties were caused by the militants’ unexpected use of rocket launchers that destroyed several military vehicles in the surprise attack.
Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab armed group claimed to have killed 25 soldiers, destroying several vehicles, but a military source told Somaliguardian that the death toll could be much higher, given that several soldiers who were rushed to a military hospital in Mogadishu have later succumbed to their injuries.
The group took over control of Bululow village, a few kilometers away from Afgoye town after managing to disperse government troops.
Colonel Abdulle Ali Mire and two other military officers who were leading the ambushed troops are among the dead.
This is the deadliest attack carried out by militant Islamist group Al-Shabaab in recent weeks as the group seems to have intensified its military campaign against Somali government and foreign troops in Somalia, with only 3 months left until the country’s presidential elections.
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