Awdheegle and Bariire attacks

The attacks began at 4 a.m. local time and occurred simultaneously in Awdheegle and Bariire.^[1][3] al-Shabaab drove suicide car bombs into the bases before launching infantry attacks on them.^[1] Lower Shabelle governor Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur Siidi stated that al-Shabaab began firing mortars on the villages of Saniid and Anole near Bariire, along with shelling the outskirts of Janaale.^[1] Sabiid, Anole, and Janaale were all under SNA control at the time of the attacks.^[1]

Somali soldiers were able to defend Awdheegle from the jihadists, but fighting in Bariire expanded into the town. Al-Shabaab claimed to have captured Bariire and the military base, although a Somali official stated that Bariire came under more pressure after al-Shabaab's loss at Awdheegle.^[1] Somali National Television claimed that the attacks on both Awdheegle and Bariire were repulsed, although Somali security forces later stated that the base at Bariire was recaptured later.^[4][1] Somali general Mohamed Tahlil Bihi stated that nine soldiers were killed and eleven injured although by April 6, military spokesman Odowaa Yusuf Rageh stated 14 Somali soldiers were killed.^[5]

Bihi stated that 76 al-Shabaab fighters were killed and ten others had been captured, and al-Shabaab spokesman Sheikh Abdulaziz al-Musab stated that 47 Somali soldiers were killed. al-Musab did not give a death toll for al-Shabaab fighters.^[5] The United States Department of State later stated at least 48 Somali soldiers had been killed.^[3]

Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble visited wounded soldiers from the Awdheegle and Bariire attacks on April 6 at a military hospital in Mogadishu. He congratulated the soldiers for their bravery.^[5] Somali state media also said that operations were underway that same day to chase remaining al-Shabaab militants from the areas around Awdheegle, and that the Somali military was currently looking for the perpetrators of the Bariire attack.^[6]