The Battle of Yurkud was a three-hour-long military engagement on 10 March 2012 fought between Ethiopian military forces and al-Shabab militants approximately 40 km from the Ethiopian border. According to Ethiopian sources, al-Shabab initiated the engagement with an attack on a military base in Yurkud at around 6 a.m. Fighting continued for three hours before, as locals report, al-Shabab was forced to retreat. The number of dead on either side is not known, with reports varying widely. Al-Shabab claimed to have lost five and killed 73, while one local resident said he saw at least 17 al-Shabab dead and another claimed he had seen six dead Ethiopian soldiers.[1][2][3]
| Battle of Yurkud (2012) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of War in Somalia (2009-present) | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Ethiopia |
 Al-Shabab | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Diyad Abdi Kalil |
Abdiaziz Abu-Musab | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
6 killed 73 killed (Al-Shabaab claim) |
17+ killed 5 killed (Al-Shabaab claim) | ||||||
References
edit- ^ "Shabab and Ethiopian troops clash in Somalia". Al Jazeera. 10 March 2012. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
- ^ Damien Pearse (10 March 2012). "At least 23 die as Ethiopian troops battle Somali Islamist insurgents". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
- ^ Abdi Sheikh and Feisal Omar (10 March 2012). "Ethiopian troops clash with al Shabaab in Somalia". Reuters. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2013.