Al-Shabaab militants attacked an African Union Mission to Somalia base in the Leego district of Somalia and killed 70 African Union soldiers and seized control of their military base on 26 June 2015.[1][2][3] A military outpost with around 100 Burundian soldiers was attacked by militants with a car bomb, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.
| Battle of Leego (2015) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Somali Civil War (2009–present) and 2015 Ramadan attacks | |||||||
 Political situation in Somalia (October 2014) | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Burundi |
 Al-Shabaab | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Lieutenant General Silas Ntigurirwa |
Ahmad Umar | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 100 soldiers | at least several dozen | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
70 killed 27 wounded | unknown | ||||||
The Mail & Guardian described the attack as the "latest attack during the insurgents’ annual Ramadan fighting season."[3] It was reported that militants beheaded survivors of the attack at the base. Footage has been released of barefoot dead soldiers and a soldier being shot.[4]
Somali and AMISOM troops reportedly retook the base and town on 28 June while al-Shabaab withdrew and offered no resistance to them but not before beheading the local Deputy District commissioner among the captives they took.[5]
The battle coincided with the 2015 Ramadan attacks conducted by ISIL and its sympathizers. However no direct link between the al-Shabaab attack and the other attacks that day exists.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Al-Shabab Attack Kills Scores of AU Troops". VOA. Archived from the original on 2015-06-29. Retrieved 2015-06-26.
- ^ "Al-Shabaab kills dozens of African Union troops at base in Somalia". the Guardian.
- ^ a b "UPDATE: Al-Shabaab claim that they had killed 30 soldiers when they 'overrun' AU Somalia base manned by Burundi troops". Mail & Guardian Africa. Archived from the original on 2015-06-30. Retrieved 2015-06-26.
- ^ "Al-Shabaab kills dozens of African Union troops at base in Somalia".
- ^ "Somalia: Somali and AU Retake Lego From Al Shabaab". AllAfrica.com. 2015-06-28. Retrieved 2018-06-26.