This archive report was first published on 5 January 2020.
On January 5, 2020, al-Shabaab fighters conducted a daring dawn raid on the US naval base 'Camp Simba' in Manda Bay, Lamu County, Somalia.
The group claimed that its fighters 'took control of part of the base that is home to hundreds of US & Kenya soldiers' and 'inflicted severe casualties on both US and Kenya troops, destroyed US military aircraft and vehicles' during the Sunday morning ambush.
A suicide car bomb reportedly breached the entry to Camp Simba, sending a plume of dark smoke into the sky, according to photos from the scene.
The attack highlights the resilience of al-Shabaab, which has maintained a campaign of deadly bomb and gun attacks despite being ejected from their bases in the Somali capital Mogadishu and other areas years ago.
