Battle of Janale (2015)

The battle of Janale took place on September 1st 2015, when Al-Shabaab militants stormed an African Union military camp manned by Ugandan forces in the town of Janale, Lower Shabelle.

Battle of Janale
Part of the War in Somalia
Date 1 September 2015 Location Janale, Lower Shebelle, Somalia 1°48′26.000″N 44°41′43.084″E
Belligerents
Al-Shabaab	AMISOM Uganda
Commanders and leaders
Abdullah Ahmed Omar †[1]	Unknown
Units involved
Sheikh Abu Zubeyr Battalion	UPDF
Strength
Dozens of	Unknown
Casualties and losses
5 killed (Al-Shabbab claim)	70 killed (Al-Shabbab claim)[2] 50 killed 50 missing (Western officials claim)
Location within Somalia Show map of Somalia Battle of Janale (2015) (Africa) Show map of Africa

Battle

It began after an Al Shabaab suicide bomber rammed a vehicle packed with explosives into the perimeter of the base, which exploded at the front of the base. Al Shabaab later named the suicide bomber in a propaganda video as Abdullah Ahmed Omar, a former Somali soldier who defected to Al Shabaab in 2014.^[3] Following that, a team of heavily armed fighters entered the breach and attacked the troops inside.^[4] The attack was launched to commemorate one anniversary after the group's former leader Ahmed Abdi Godane's death, who was killed in a U.S. drone airstrike in the previous year.^[5]