Armed Al-Shabab fighters storm military base in Somalia, over 60 people killed

Mogadishu: More than 60 people have reportedly been killed in Somalia after heavily armed Al-Shabab fighters stormed a military base in the country's semiautonomous state of Puntland, local media reports said.

The Al-Shabab claimed that they had seized a large amount of weapons and ammunition in the assault.

A local security official said that the militants had also suffered heavy casualties and lost many of their fighters.

However, exact death toll in the reported assault is not yet available.

With an aim to topple Somalia's Western backed government and drive out African Union peacekeeping troops, Al Qaeda affiliated group al Shabaaab have carried out frequent attack in the region.

Al-Shabaab is an al Qaeda-linked terror group that seeks to turn the country into a fundamentalist Islamic state and has carried out repeated attacks against the government and military targets.

Al-Shabaab is a terrorist group based in East Africa that pledged its allegiance with the al-Qaeda.