Battle of Yurkud (2012) | |||||||
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Part of War in Somalia (2009-present) | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Ethiopia | Al-Shabab | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Diyad Abdi Kalil | Abdiaziz Abu-Musab | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
6 killed 73 killed (Al-Shabaab claim) |
: 17+ killed 5 killed (Al-Shabaab claim) |
The Battle of Yurkud was a three-hour-long military engagement on 10 March 2012 fought between Ethiopian military forces and al-Shabab militants approximately 40 km from the Ethiopian border. According to Ethiopian sources, al-Shabab initiated the engagement with an attack on a military base in Yurkud at around 6 a.m. Fighting continued for three hours before, as locals report, al-Shabab was forced to retreat. The number of dead on either side is not known, with reports varying widely. Al-Shabab claimed to have lost five and killed 73, while one local resident said he saw at least 17 al-Shabab dead and another claimed he had seen six dead Ethiopian soldiers.[1][2][3]