The Somalian rebel group Al-Shabab claims to have killed 43 Ethiopian soldiers during a raid on a military base used by Ethiopian troops serving in AMISOM (African Union Mission in Somalia). 

No AMISOM spokesman has made any statement about the incident. In most cases, it is up to the country with the casualties to make announcements.

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Halgan, the town in which the attack occurred on Thursday, is in the Hiran region of Central Somalia, about 180 miles away from Somali capital Mogadishu.

Al-Shabab's military operations spokesperson Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab told Reuters that "Our fighters stormed the Halgan base of AMISOM ... We killed 43 AU soldiers from Ethiopia in the fighting."

Abu Musab stated that "several" Al-Shabab troops perished during the raid, but did not explicitly state a figure.

Many residents in Halgan claim to have heard a huge blast and loud exchanges of gunfire between AMISOM troops and Al-Shabab fighters. Witnesses claim that the gunfire could be heard more than an hour after the initial explosion occurred.

Al-Shabab allegedly drove a car packed with a bomb to the gates of the AMISOM base, and shortly thereafter the Islamic militants stormed the front of the base.

Al-Shabab did not succeed in their attack, however, and AMISOM still has control of the city and the base.

Al-Shabab is known to launch attacks on Somali forces and AMISOM troops in an attempt to topple the current government of Somalia.

Recently, Al-Shabab led a raid on the camp on El Adde, near the Kenyan border. Al-Shabab claims to have killed around 100 Kenyan troops, but the Kenyan government has not confirmed the number of casualties.

TagsSomalia, African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), al-shabab, Kenya