AKIPRESS.COM - Somali Islamist militant group al-Shabab says it has killed 60 Ethiopian soldiers in an attack on an African Union base in central Somalia, BBC reports.

The AU mission (Amisom) says it repulsed the attack, killing 110 militants.

Residents in Halgan told the BBC they had heard a huge bang followed by a heavy exchange of gunfire.

Amisom supports the government as it fights to regain control of the country from al-Shabab.

In a series of tweets it has said its soldiers, alongside troops from the Somali army, "drove back the attackers who are now on the run with the joint forces in pursuit".

Ethiopia has denied that any of its soldiers were killed.