A guard of honour was held by United Arab Emirates on Sunday in Abu Dhabi for three soldiers killed in Somalia.
An attack by al-Qaida linked group, Al-shabbab at the general Gordon military base in Mogadishu, saw soldiers and a Bahraini officer killed while another died en route back to the Emirates.
Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Somali President, sent condolences to the UAE as
Al-Shabaab claimed the attack, saying the UAE is an antagonist of Shariah law for supporting Somali government.
An Islamic extremist group, Sunni established in 2006 once held Mogadishu but
has been pushed out of the capital in recent years by an African Union-led force, supported by the United States and other countries, in recent years but still poses a threat to the country’s stability.
However, the sunni group still controls half of Somalia’s territory, claiming attacks on the capital.
Experts have warned that the withdrawal of the AU mission this year risks allowing al-Shabaab to regain its losses.
