Somalia’s al-Shabaab says British, Turkish forces attacked its base.

Somalia’s al-Shabaab says British, Turkish forces attacked its base.

Al Arabiya | 05 Oct 2013 :: Somalia’s Islamist militia al-Shabaab said on Saturday that a dawn raid at its strongholds in the small town of Barawe in the south of the country was carried out by British and Turkish special forces.

The commander of the British force, it said, was killed during the attack and four other SAS operatives were critically wounded. One Turkish soldier was also wounded, according to a statement by Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, al-Shabaab’s military operation spokesman.

The statement by the militia could not immediately be independently verified and Turkish special forces said they did not take any part in the attack, according to a foreign ministry official.

A resident of Barawe - a seaside town 240 kilometers south of Mogadishu – told Agence France-Presse by telephone that heavy gunfire woke up residents before dawn prayers. An al-Shabaab fighter who gave his name as Abu Mohamed said “foreign” soldiers attacked a house, prompting militants to rush to the scene to capture a soldier. Mohamed said that effort was not successful.

The international troops attacked a two-story beachside house in Barawe where foreign fighters lived, battling their way inside, said Mohamed, who said he had visited the scene. Al-Shabaab has a formal alliance with al-Qaeda, and hundreds of foreign fighters from the U.S., Britain and Middle Eastern countries fight alongside Somali members of al-Shabaab.(Courtesy:Al Arabiya)

Kenya mall hostage crisis continues, toll 59 .

Kenya mall hostage crisis continues, toll 59 .

New Delhi | Nairobi | 22 Sep 2013 :: Kenyan troops were locked in a fierce gunfight with Somali militants inside an upmarket Nairobi shopping mall on Sunday, in a final push to end a siege that has left 59 killed and 200 wounded with an unknown number of hostages still being held. Israeli forces joined Kenyan efforts to end adeadly siege by Somali militants at the mall, a security source told AFP.

"The Israelis have just entered and they are rescuing the hostages and the injured," the source said on condition he not be named.

The intervention came 26 hours after gunmen walked into the complex, tossing grenades and spraying gunfire at shoppers and staff.

Fifty-nine people are confirmed dead in an attack by Somali Islamist militants on a Nairobi shopping mall, Kenya's interior minister Joseph Ole Lenku said on Sunday.

Some 10 to 15 gunmen are still battling security forces inside Nairobi's Westgate shopping mall, he said.

"A number of attackers are still in the building, and range between ten to fifteen gunmen," he said.

"We believe there are some innocent people in the building, that is why the operation is delicate."

Somalia's Al Qaeda-inspired Shebab rebels said the carnage at the part Israeli-owned complex mall was in retaliation for Kenya's military intervention in Somalia, where African Union troops are battling the Islamists. Timeline: al Shabab attacks in Somalia, other nations

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said in a televised address to the nation late Saturday that he had "personally lost family members in the Westgate attack".(Courtesy:Hindustan times)