Tuesday's deadly attack was the first in a peace process in Somalia since the AU Transition Mission in Somalia ATMIS replaced former AMISOM troops on April 1. By MUSTAFA ABDI AFPFile
Ten Burundian soldiers were killed in Tuesday's al-Shabaab attack on an African Union (AU) camp in Somalia, Burundian troops said on Wednesday.
Twenty-five soldiers were wounded and five disappeared when 20 Al-Shabaab terrorists were killed, the statement said.
It is the first time that a peace base has been attacked since the AU Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) replaced the former AMISOM force on April 1.
AU troops sent helicopters after an early morning strike at a Burundian military base near Ceel Baraf, a village 160 miles northeast of the capital Mogadishu, military officials and witnesses said.
The commander of the local army, Mohamed Ali, told AFP on Tuesday that the attack began with a bomb blast before a blast was fired.
Two Burundian military sources told AFP that 45 soldiers had been reported dead or missing, with 25 wounded.
"A temporary figure is several 45 soldiers killed or missing, including a military commander," a Burundian military source told AFP on condition of anonymity, and a second source backed the figures.
Al-Shabaab blamed the attack on the attack, saying it had taken control of the camp and that 173 soldiers had been killed.
Al-Qaeda-linked Islamist militants for more than a decade have rebelled against Somalia's weakened state.
The Somali government has condemned the "evil" attack and called on the international community to do more to support the Somali military and ATMIS in "effective counter-terrorism".
Bloodshed highlights security issues in a troubled African country, which is also plagued by political instability and widespread hunger.
Al-Shabaab forces controlled Mogadishu until 2011 when AU troops fired them.
But they still occupy a rural area and often attack civilians, soldiers, and government institutions in Mogadishu and elsewhere.
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