Somalia’s Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab terrorist militants stormed an African Union base Friday, the Somali army said, with witnesses reporting several dead.

Somalia's Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab terrorist militants stormed an African Union base Friday, the Somali army said, with witnesses reporting several dead.

"There was heavy fighting with casualties," Somali army colonel Idris Ahmed said, adding a Shebab suicide commando blasted a way into the base in the far southwestern Gedo region, where Somali troops and Kenyan soldiers with the AU force were based.

Shebab spokesman Shebab spokesman Abdiaziz Abu Musab claimed to have killed 63 Kenyan troops in the pre-dawn attack, but this could not be immediately verified. Kenya's army said fighting was ongoing.