Heavily armed Al Shabab fighters on Monday stormed a military base in southern Somalia, leaving several dead, a local army official and witnesses said.
Military sources in the region said the attack targeted the Bar-sanguni military base which lies about 40 kilometres north of the regional capital Kismayo.
The attackers rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a checkpoint before gunmen attacked the base, exchanging gunfire with soldiers for over an hour.
"Al Shabab terrorists attacked Bar-sanguni military base early this morning and there was heavy fighting. The Somali armed forces have repelled the attackers but there were casualties inflicted on the both sides during the armed confrontation," Mohamed Bile, a military commander in a nearby village, said by phone.
"We don't have the exact number of the dead so far but there it could be more than 10."
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Several witnesses in nearby villages reported a heavy blast followed by sustained gunfire.
The Al Qaeda-linked Shabab claimed in a statement they had killed 27 soldiers in the attack on a base "which the Americans built for the apostate militias."
Al Shabab has been fighting to overthrow the internationally backed government in Mogadishu for over a decade.
Despite losing territory in recent years, the group continues to carry out regular bombings and armed raids on government, security and civilian targets in the capital and elsewhere.