Shabaab targets base where US soldier died with suicide bombing

One day after a deadly attack on a joint US-Kenyan-Somali base in southern Somalia, Shabaab again targeted the base today with a suicide car bomb. This time, Somali authorities reported that forces within the base were able to kill the driver, which caused the detonation of the vehicle before it was able to get close to the base perimeter and inflict serious damage.

According to local sources, only one Somali soldier was injured after the base’s defenders thwarted the car bomb. Additionally, Somali military officials reported that two militants, the driver and a passenger, were killed.

Shabaab, via its Shahada News Telegram channel, claimed the suicide bombing killed “more than 50 members of the government’s militias” in the attack. However, Shabaab is known to inflate numbers when attacks do not go as planned for the jihadist group.

The suicide car bombing comes just a day after a deadly assault on the same base in which one US Special Forces soldier was killed. Four other US personnel, and one Somali special forces member, were also wounded.

Caleb Weiss is an editor of FDD's Long War Journal and a senior analyst at the Bridgeway Foundation, where he focuses on the spread of the Islamic State in Central Africa.

Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.

Tags: ,

2 Comments

  • Yusuf Gabobe says:

    How can any body on his mind collaborate with Somalia’s terrorist infested government to fight Al-shabab?The US should review its policy towards Somalia particulary its counter terrorism stragey because currently it is not weakening Al-shabab.

  • Verneoz says:

    The end justifies the means. Somalia is a failed state. Anything that looks or acts like an Islamic terrorist should be killed, and eliminated with extreme prejudice.

Iraq

Islamic state

Syria

Aqap

Al shabaab

Boko Haram

Isis