Somalia's al-Shabab fighters have put on display the dead bodies of more than 70 African Union peacekeepers they say they killed in the country's capital, Mogadishu.The troops, reportedly Burundian soldiers, were killed on Thursday following a battle with al-Shabab, according to Abu Omar, a commander of the anti-government Islamist group.
"We can confirm that more than 150 Burundian soldiers were killed in the battle. We can confirm to you that 76 of the bodies are currently in our custody and the battle lasted for about six hours," he told Al Jazeera.
Displaying the bodies in the dust to reporters, Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage, an al-Shabab spokesman, said: "We have killed more than 70 of the enemy soldiers today ... We have inflicted heavy losses on them and you can see their dead bodies."
The bodies were put on display in the al-Shabab-controlled El-Maan area, 18km from Mogadishu.
Witnesses say the bodies were not Somalis and most were dressed in military uniforms.
"I have seen the largest number of soldiers killed in a battle, I have counted 63 Burundian soldiers, all of them dead, the Shabab brought them on trucks to Alamada," Hasan Yunus, a witness, said.
"Some of the dead bodies were dragged along by angry residents."
Photographs showed long lines of at least 20 bodies dressed in military uniform laid out in the sand, surrounded by a large crowd with their faces covered.
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