Somali armed group al-Shabab has said that a group of “Westerners” who arrived in boats attacked a house in one of its coastal bases under the cover of night, drawing gunfire from rebels and killing one.
Foreign forces landed on the beach at Barawe, about 180 km south of the capital Mogadishu, and launched an assault that al-Shabab attempted to repel, Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, spokesman for the group’s military operations, told Reuters news agency.
“Westerners in boats attacked our base at Barawe beach and one was martyred from our side,” Musab said. “No planes or helicopters took part in the fight. The attackers left weapons, medicine and stains of blood. We chased them.”
Al-Shabab insist there was nobody of any significance in the house at the time of the attack, Greste said.
It was not immediately clear whether the assault was related to the attack on a Kenyan shopping mall two weeks ago, claimed by al-Shabab, in which 67 people were killed by attackers using machine guns and grenades.
A resident of Barawe town told the Associated Press news agency that heavy gunfire woke people up before dawn prayers. A similar account was given by a government official in Mogadishu who insisted on anonymity.
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