Thursday, December 12, 2013

Al-Shabaab rookies attack government bases in Baidoa.

“Whoever sent these young brainwashed boys should know that he will not achieve anything because the Somali public is tired of war and they simply want to build their life and country. We want to tell those behind the attack that they will not dampen our spirits,” Eden added.

Suspected Al-Shabaab rookie fighters carried out ambush attacks on several government installations in Baidoa firing rocket propelled grenades and using both heavy and light machine guns in a night ride that was anticipated by officials following intelligence reports of the same.
The attack was followed by a heavy exchange of fire between Somalia security officials and the attackers that lasted for almost an hour from midnight Wednesday to early hours of Thursday.
One official said the attackers were young men who seemed to have undergone a simple training on how to fire a rifle because they could not even properly aim their guns at their targets.
“The Al-Shabaab trainees attacked four of our bases in Baidoa. Our forces contained them because we had prior intelligence reports of the attack and so they found us prepared. Three government forces were wounded in the heavy attack and our boys killed at least 10 of the attackers with many others fleeing with bullet wounds,” a senior security source who did not wish to be named as he not allowed to speak to media.
The source said the militants are planning more attacks later tonight and that government forces and their African Union backers are more than prepared to respond to any hostile fire.
Baidoa, an agricultural rich city located 240 km west of the capital Mogadishu, has in the past one year experienced a peaceful spell since the Al-Shabaab militants were ousted by a combined Ethiopian and Somalia military force in February 2012.
Residents accuse Al-Shabaab of disturbing peace and denying locals the opportunity to rebuild their shuttered life marred by a bloody conflict blindly spearheaded by the Al-qaeda affiliated Al-Shabaab militants.
“What was really the purpose of this cowardly attack?” quipped one angry resident, Madey Eden.
“Whoever sent these young brainwashed boys should know that he will not achieve anything because the Somali public is tired of war and they simply want to build their life and country. We want to tell those behind the attack that they will not dampen our spirits,” Eden added.