Alshabaab militants on Sunday ambushed African Union troops leaving dozens dead.
African Union troops killed in al-shabaab ambush
The incident occured in the Lower Shabelle region south of Somalia. Reports indicated that fighting broke out when the al-Shabaab fighters attacked the AMISOM troops.
A government official told Reuters that they had carried 23 dead AMISOM soldiers and a dead Somali soldier from the scene where attack occured.
But al shabaab claimed that hey had killed 39 AMISOM troops. The claim by the al-Qaeda linked fighters, made by the group’s spokesman on an affiliated radio station, could not be immediately verified.
The African Union has a 22,000 strong force in the country dedicated to fighting al-Shabab and supporting the internationally backed government in Mogadishu.