Somalia's intelligence agency claimed its troops have foiled a planned attack on the African Union forces' headquarters that also houses foreign diplomats and the United Nations offices on the New Year's Eve on Friday.

The development comes as hundreds of troops; including intelligence forces have been deployed across Somali capital to ramp up efforts to prevent attacks by Al-Shabab.

 

 However, Abdirahman Turyare, Somalia’s intelligence chief said that security forces acting upon a security ripoff have encountered a minibus vehicle carrying heavily armed men with armaments including RPS and mortars, sparking gun battles between the two sides.

"We had the information that they (would be attackers) were on the way to launch the attack on the AU base camp, thus our troops who were aware of it foiled their attempt.” He told Voice of America Somali Service Friday.

 

It’s unclear if the said militants escaped after security forces disrupted their attack that allegedly aimed to target the African Union forces main base, known as Halane base camp.

The ambitious National Security and Stabilization Plan (NSSP), which outlines plans to rebuild Somalia’s armed forces and including police, would see large security presence across Mogadishu. The plan also aims to restore ‘stable’ judiciary system as parts of the country’s security improvement efforts.