Deadly Shabaab Attack on Somali Army Base

A Somali soldier looks at the Lido beach from the terrace of a restaurant on January 22, 2016 (AFP Photo/Mohamed Abdiwahab)
A Somali soldier looks at the Lido beach from the terrace of a restaurant on January 22, 2016 (AFP Photo/Mohamed Abdiwahab)
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Deadly Shabaab Attack on Somali Army Base

A Somali soldier looks at the Lido beach from the terrace of a restaurant on January 22, 2016 (AFP Photo/Mohamed Abdiwahab)
A Somali soldier looks at the Lido beach from the terrace of a restaurant on January 22, 2016 (AFP Photo/Mohamed Abdiwahab)

Shabaab militants killed at least 15 soldiers in an attack on a Somali military base near the capital Mogadishu, the group and officials said on Friday.

The militants used guns and car bombs to take control of the Somali National Army military camp and a nearby town, Barire, 50 km southwest of Mogadishu, in an early-morning attack.

The fighters also took 11 pickup trucks mounted with machine guns, known as "technicals", said Abdiasis Abu Musab, Shabaab’s military operation spokesman.

"The other soldiers ran helter-skelter into the woods. We now control the base and the village," he said.

A Somali military officer put the number of dead at 15; Shabaab said 21 were killed.

"There was a battalion of soldiers but it was a fierce fighting; twin suicide car bombs and hand-to-hand fighting," Captain Osman Ali told Reuters.

"The attacked soldiers were Somali military and the special forces trained by the US called Danab. There were neither AMISOM nor other foreigners there," Ali added, referring to African Union peacekeeping troops.

Reinforcements were being sent, he said.

Residents said the attack left bodies of government soldiers scattered on the ground while Shabaab fighters looted the base.

"There were dead bodies around the military camp and I counted about eight of them from the Somali military but it could be more than that," said Abdulahi Muktar.



International Criminal Court Refers Hungary to Its Oversight Body for Failing to Arrest Netanyahu 

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, shake hands after a press statement at the Carmelite Monastery in the Buda Castle in Budapest, Hungary, April 3, 2025. (AP) 
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, shake hands after a press statement at the Carmelite Monastery in the Buda Castle in Budapest, Hungary, April 3, 2025. (AP) 
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International Criminal Court Refers Hungary to Its Oversight Body for Failing to Arrest Netanyahu 

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, shake hands after a press statement at the Carmelite Monastery in the Buda Castle in Budapest, Hungary, April 3, 2025. (AP) 
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, shake hands after a press statement at the Carmelite Monastery in the Buda Castle in Budapest, Hungary, April 3, 2025. (AP) 

A panel of judges at the International Criminal Court reported Hungary to the court’s oversight organization for failing to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visited Budapest in April, saying the move undercut the court's ability to bring suspects to justice.

The Israeli leader received a red carpet welcome from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán during a state visit, in defiance of an ICC arrest warrant. Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant are accused of crimes against humanity in connection with the war in Gaza.

Israel is not a member of the court and staunchly rejects the charges.

In a filing released late Thursday, the three-judge panel wrote that “the obligation to cooperate was sufficiently clear to Hungary” and the failure to arrest Netanyahu “severely undermines the Court’s ability to carry out its mandate.”

The ICC has no police force and relies on countries around the world to execute arrest warrants.

The court's oversight body, the Assembly of States Parties has limited powers to sanction Hungary. It will consider the next steps during its annual meeting in December.

The Hungarian leader, regarded by critics as an autocrat and the EU’s most intransigent spoiler in the bloc’s decision-making, has defended his decision to not arrest Netanyahu. During the visit, Orbán said his country’s commitment to the ICC was “ half-hearted ” and began the process to withdraw Hungary from the court.

Orbán signed the Rome Statute, the treaty which created the court, in 2001 during his first term as prime minister.

The court dismissed arguments from Hungary that Parliament never incorporated the court’s statute into Hungarian law, writing “it was Hungary’s responsibility to ensure that such legislation was in place.”

The decision comes as Gaza’s population of more than 2 million Palestinians is in a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, now relying largely on the limited aid allowed into the territory.

Netanyahu and Gallant are accused of using “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid, and of intentionally targeting civilians in Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza.