US soldier hurt, 2 Somali soldiers dead in al-Shabab attack

By ABDI GULED
September 7, 2020

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A U.S. soldier was wounded and two Somali soldiers were killed when an al-Shabab suicide bomber tried to pass a checkpoint and attack a military compound in southern Somalia but was stopped by the partner forces, the countries said Monday.

A Somali information ministry statement said the attack occurred Monday morning about 60 kilometers (10 miles) north of the port city of Kismayo. Three other Somali soldiers were wounded and an al-Shabab extremist was killed, it said.

“The U.S. service member is in stable condition and receiving treatment for injuries that are not assessed to be life-threatening,” U.S. Africa Command spokesman Christopher Karns said in a separate statement.

Al-Shabab’s military operations spokesman, Sheikh Abdiaziz Abu Musab, in an audio message broadcast by the extremist group’s radio arm, Andalus, claimed multiple U.S. and Somali deaths in the attack. But there was no independent confirmation, and al-Shabab often exaggerates casualties.

The al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab remains the most active and resilient extremist group in Africa, controlling parts of southern and central Somalia and often targeting checkpoints and other high-profile areas in the capital, Mogadishu. It has fired several mortars this year at the heavily defended international airport, where the U.S. Embassy and others are located.

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