KAMPALA, Uganda, July 31: Uganda's military says 12 of its soldiers were killed in an ambush Sunday by al-Shabab Islamic extremists in southern Somalia.
Uganda's Ministry of Defense said in a statement Monday that seven other Ugandan troops were injured in the attack in Lower Shabelle region.
IS attack kills 23 Syrian soldiers: monitor
Ugandan troops are deployed to Somalia as peacekeepers under the banner of the African Union. Ugandan authorities say they were conducting a joint patrol with Somali forces when they were attacked.
There is no word yet on any casualties among the Somali forces.
Al-Shabab claims it killed 39 soldiers.
The attack came hours after a car bomb in Somalia's capital killed at least five people, most of them civilians, shattering a month of relative calm in Mogadishu.
