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MOGADISHU. – The al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab militants in Somalia have killed at least 43 soldiers in an attack on a base used by Ethiopian troops north of the capital, Mogadishu.

The fatalities came early yesterday when the Takfiri group detonated a car bomb at the base for the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in the town of Halgan, about 300 km north of Mogadishu.

Local residents said they heard a huge explosion at the base and a heavy exchange of gunfire shortly before dawn.

An al-Shabab spokesman said 43 African Union soldiers from Ethiopia were killed in the fighting, adding several militants also lost their lives.

The deadly assault is the first such attack on an Ethiopian army base since militants began targeting foreign soldiers deployed in the Horn of Africa state. – Press TV.