Al Shabaab African force in Somalia says kills 110 militants when its base raided

The African Union AMISOM force fighting in Somalia said on Thursday its troops repelled an attack on one of its bases by the al Shabaab Islamist group and killed 110 militants.

"AMISOM forces killed 110 al Shabaab and captured a large cache of weapons," AMISOM spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Joe Kibet told Reuters by telephone, adding that a claim by al Shabaab that it had killed 60 AU soldiers was a "falsehood".

Al Shabaab initially said it had killed 43 AU soldiers, but its military operations spokesman later said its fighters had killed 60, while 16 of its own fighters died in the attack on the base in Halgan town, north of Mogadishu.