Somalia: Extremists attack military base amid African Union troop drawdown

A military base in Somalia came under attack by al-Shabaab extremists on Wednesday, police and witnesses said, just as the African Union announced it was beginning a drawdown of troops in the violence-wracked nation.

Almost simultaneous suicide bomb blasts targeted the base in the southern city of Baardhere, which hosts both Ethiopian and Somali troops, triggering heavy gunfire, the sources said.