OSINT SUMMARY
14th January 2016, The Somali based jihadist group suffered heavy losses after they attempted to forcibly gain entry into a government base in Elshil near the central Somali town of Elbur.
Reports indicate that Al-Shabaab fighters who usually target government personnel ambushed the government base but they were met with fierce resistance.
A local Governor Nur Hussein Gutale, confirmed that Al-Shabaab attacked the government base in Elshil only to be overwhelmed by the government soldiers response. During the encounter both warring sides suffered casualties with Al-Shabaab losing nine of its fighters.
Only one government soldier was killed in the battle and six others were injured, Gutale added.
Al-Shabaab who thrive on propaganda to gain mileage aired contradicting reports through Radio Andalus , a media broadcaster that backs Al-Qaeda linked militants claiming that they raided a government base in Somalia with rocket propelled grenades and heavy artillery killing 10 people.
Al-Shabaab militant group has been fighting to topple the international backed government of Somalia and impose a strict form of Islamist Sharia Law.
Since the entry of African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in 2011, Al-Shabaab has been dislodged out of the capital Mogadishu and in many others localities across Somalia.
Ethiopian trooping fighting Al-Shabaab under AMISOM banner captured Elbur and its surrounding in March 2014 after about eight years of Islamist reign.
Recently the militant group is being faced by rivalry challenge within its faction with a small unit of its fighters decamping from its wing to ISIS brigade.
