Al Shabaab group attacks African Union mission troop camp in central Somalia - local elder

Somalia's al Shabaab group launched a car bomb and gun attack on an African Union mission troop camp in the Shabelle region in the centre of the country, a local elder said on Tuesday. "We were awoken by huge blasts early in the morning. The blasts were at the African Union mission base.

Somalia's al Shabaab group launched a car bomb and gun attack on an African Union mission troop camp in the Shabelle region in the centre of the country, a local elder said on Tuesday.

"We were awoken by huge blasts early in the morning. The blasts were at the African Union mission base. Heavy exchange of gunfire followed," local elder Mohamed Nur told Reuters by phone from El Baraf, about 130 km (80 miles) to the north of the capital Mogadishu.