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Car bomb kills 4 outside police academy in Somali capital Foreign commandoes said to carry out night raid in Somalia
(about 3 hours later)
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Three police officers and one civilian were killed in a car bombing outside a police academy in the Somali capital, a police commander said, and a spokesman for an Islamic extremist group said it repelled an attack by international forces. MOGADISHU, Somalia — In a raid that bore the hallmarks of a foreign special forces unit, soldiers dropped off by helicopters hiked through the nighttime dark to a town controlled by Islamic militants. Then a firefight erupted.
A suicide car bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle outside a cafe near the academy in Mogadishu on Wednesday, said Gen. Ali Hersi Barre. Al-Shabab said Wednesday that its fighters had foiled the attack by foreign forces on Awdhegle town in southern Somalia overnight, and that they retreated with casualties.
There was no claim of responsibility for the blast, but it bore the hallmarks of al-Shabab. The raid came three days after the U.S. carried out an air strike on an al-Shabab training camp that the Pentagon said killed about 150 militants. There was no immediate word on whether U.S. commandoes carried out the Tuesday night ground attack.
The Islamic extremist group said Wednesday that its fighters had foiled an attempt by foreign forces to raid an al-Shabab-held town in southern Somalia during the night. Sheikh Abdiaziz Abu Musab, a spokesman for al-Shabab, told a militant-run online radio that the unidentified foreign forces used two helicopters.
Sheikh Abdiaziz Abu Musab, a spokesman for al-Shabab, told a militant-run online radio that unidentified foreign forces with two helicopters tried to launch a ground attack on a military station in Awdhegle town in Lower Shabelle region before they were repulsed. Al-Shabab fighters forced the foreign forces dropped off by helicopter to retreat with casualties after more than 30 minutes of clashes. Mohamed Hassan, an elder in Awdhegle, told The Associated Press that the foreign forces parked their helicopters outside the town and walked at least 3 kilometers (1.9 miles), sneaking into the town to avoid detection by the Islamic fighters and launched a surprise raid.
No country has so far said it carried out the attack alleged by al-Shabab. He said there was gunfire between militants and al-Shabab foot soldiers that started near the police station.
The Pentagon has said U.S. forces carried out air strikes on a training camp run by al-Shabab, killing more than 150 of the group’s fighters on Saturday. The exact target of the raid, if any, remains unclear.
Despite being ousted from Mogadishu and surrounding regions, al-Shabab continues to launch guerrilla attacks across the Horn of Africa country. The group has also carried out many attacks in neighboring Kenya, whose military involvement in Somalia is opposed by the Islamic extremists. Meanwhile, three police officers and one civilian were killed Wednesday in a suicide car bombing outside a cafe near the police academy in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, said police Gen. Ali Hersi Barre.
There was no claim of responsibility for the blast, but it appeared to be part of attacks waged by al-Shabab, which was ousted from Mogadishu by African Union peacekeepers in 2011.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.