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Standout General Picked to Lead Somalia's Al-Shabab Fight

Harun Maruf

   One morning in mid-August, the al-Shabab militant group launched a
   massive attack on a Somali government military base at the newly
   captured strategic town of Awdhegle in the Lower Shabelle region.

   The attack started when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device
   (IED) driven by a suicide bomber approached the base and exploded.
   Moments later, a second suicide vehicle blew up on the other side of
   the base.

   In typical al-Shabab style, heavily armed militants attempted to storm
   the base. Somali soldiers backed by African Union troops from Uganda
   held on, defeating al-Shabab. Four Somali government soldiers, a
   cameraman embedded with the military and a Ugandan soldier were killed,
   according to officials. Seventeen others were injured. Al-Shabab lost
   23 men, according to the officials.

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