Battle of Leego (2015)

Battle of Leego (2015)
Part of War in Somalia (2009–present) and 2015 Ramadan attacks

Political situation in Somalia (October 2014)
Date26 June 2015
LocationLeego, Somalia
2°42′55″N 44°30′46″E / 2.7154°N 44.5128°E / 2.7154; 44.5128Coordinates: 2°42′55″N 44°30′46″E / 2.7154°N 44.5128°E / 2.7154; 44.5128
Result partial al-Shabaab tactical victory; AMISOM military victory. Al-Shabaab briefly captures Leego base, before withdrawing.
Belligerents
AMISOM Al-Shabaab
Commanders and leaders
Burundi Lieutenant General Silas Ntigurirwa Ahmad Umar
Strength
Burundi ~100 soldiers Unknown, at least several dozen
Casualties and losses
70+ killed, 27 injured Unknown

Al-Shabaab militants attacked an African Union Mission to Somalia base in the Leego district of Somalia and killed more than 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.

The Mail & Guardian describes the attack as the "latest attack during the insurgents’ annual Ramadan fighting season."[3] It is reported militants beheaded survivors of the attack at the base. Footage has been released of barefoot dead soldiers and a soldier being shot.[4]

Somalian and AMISOM troops reportedly retook the base and town on June 28 while Al-Shabab 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 sympathizers however no direct link between the al-Shabaab attack and the other attacks that day exist.

See also

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 6/20/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.