Missile strikes near Somalia port

A missile hit a beach on Saturday used as a base by al Qaeda linked insurgents who want to topple Somalia’s Western-backed leaders, the government and residents said.

A government spokesman in the southern region of Juba, where the missile landed, confirmed the strike near the port of Kismayo, but said he did not know which of the countries fighting al Shabaab had launched the attack, or whether there had been casualties.

“It has exploded on a beachside that al Shabaab uses. It is 12 km (7 miles) away from the town (Kismayo), but we don’t know which nation has carried out the attack,” Mohamed Farah said.

Residents living in the coastal town, considered a base for al Shabaab’s operations during its near five-year insurgency, said they saw a bright light streaking overhead in the night sky late Saturday.

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Story courtesy of Reuters.

By Mohamed Ahmed

(Writing by James Macharia; Editing by Alison Williams)