Al-Shabaab attacks US base, EU convoy in Somalia: witnesses, security officer

The Al-Shabaab militant group struck a United States airbase in Somalia and a convoy of European Union military advisers in separate attacks on Monday, a security officer and witnesses told AFP.

"Two heavy explosions occurred, the first one bigger than the other. There was also a heavy exchange of gunfire after the blasts but we don't know about the details," Mohamed Adan, a Somali elder close to the scene of the attack on the US base at Baledogle, told AFP by phone.

Omar Abikar, a Somali security officer, confirmed the second, separate attack in the capital Mogadishu on Monday morning against a convoy carrying EU advisers, adding "there are casualties".