Al-Shabaab fighters from Somali have attacked an army base southwest of the capital, Mogadishu, killing at least 10 soldiers, the group and a military officer told the Reuters news agency.
The attackers exploded a car packed with explosives before storming the base, some 50km outside Mogadishu, on Monday morning.
A suicide car bomb rammed into the base and then al-Shabab fighters stormed it. At least 10 soldiers died.
Heavy exchange of fire is said to have continued for hours with unconfirmed reports indicating that at least 12 al-Shabab fighters were killed.
In January, the al Shabaab militia launched an early morning attack on an AMISOM base in the town of El-Adde, near the Ethiopian border. More than 100 Kenyan soldiers were killed in the dawn attacked,according to a statement released by the militia.