Ethiopia has said that its soldiers deployed in Somalia killed 101 Shabaab fighters attacked an army base used by the African Union force fighting the Al-Qaeda linked group yesterday.

The Shabaab movement had earlier announced a major assault on the base in Halgan in the central Hiran region of the arid Horn of Africa nation, via its Telegram messaging platform, but the Ethiopian government spokesman Getachew Reda dismissed a claim by the Shabaab that they had killed dozens of soldiers, while losing just 16 of their own fighters.

“There was an attempt by al-Shabaab to attack our forces in central Somalia but … our forces killed 101 militants and destroyed heavy weaponry,” Getachew said.

“We are still assessing how many people got hurt on our side but their claim that they have killed 43 Ethiopian soldiers is an absolute lie. This is a figment of their imagination,” he added. “The Mujahideen fighters stormed the base and massacred many of the Ethiopians,” the Shabaab claimed on Telegram, putting the death toll among the troops at 60. Casualty figures from this type of attack are impossible to verify independently.

The Shabaab generally exaggerates, while the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) usually gives no details of losses among its ranks. On its Twitter account, AMISOM — comprising troops from Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda — confirmed ‘an attempted Shabaab attack’ but gave no figures. “The enemy was successfully repulsed,” AMISOM said, claiming also to be ‘in pursuit’ of the attackers.

Residents in the area close to Halgan said the attack began when a vehicle driven by a suicide bomber exploded at the entrance to the base, after which jihadist gunmen fought their way in.

“There was a major attack this morning at Halgan. Violent elements tried to break into the base of the Somalian army and of AMISOM, but they were driven back and their bodies are everywhere,” senior official Guhad Abdi Warsame said. “They lost and now we have complete control of the zone, the situation is normal,” he added.

The Shabaab launched a similar ‘swarming’ style attack a year ago and have since overrun forward operating bases manned by Burundian troops in Lego in June, Ugandan troops in Janale in September and Kenyan troops in El Adde in January.

While the countries contributing soldiers to the peacekeeping effort refuse to confirm casualty numbers, it is believed that scores of AMISOM soldiers were killed in each attack.

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A senior cabinet minister in South Sudan has accused his country’s customs officials at Nimule and Kaya border points of not remitting taxes to the centre in Juba.

New Interior Minister General Alfred Lado Gore said the culprits at the two busiest border points: Nimule across the border from Alegu, Atiak in Uganda and their counterparts at Kaya were not remitting the taxes because they were ‘connected to very big people’.

“I have just received a report that Nimule checkpoint has collapsed. The money there is going to individuals because they are connected with big people! Very big people who are untouchables,” said Gore, without giving names of the suspected “big people.”

Gen Gore said that an insignificant amount is remitted to government accounts and the officers take chunk of the revenues.

He vowed his ministry, which deploys senior customs officials to border points, will review promotion process to remove corrupt individuals.

Meanwhile, South Sudan said it loses millions of money in revenues to tax exemptions, with the United Nations and other humanitarian agencies ‘exploiting the generosity’.

Akok Noon Akok, the Director General of South Sudan Customs Services, said government officials also secure exemptions to import personal effects and dodge taxes.

“I can say 99% [ of exemptions] are going to UN, NGOs and Humanitarian agencies. So you can say whatever we collect monthly can be [half] by what goes on exemption,” said Akok, speaking at a reception organized in Juba for new Interior Minister, Gen Gore.

He said the remaining “one percent of exemption goes to government agencies.”

South Sudan relies on oil revenues for up to 98% to fund its budget. But the 21 months of war and lowering oil prices has pushed the country to the verge of economic collapse and demands collecting taxes from non-oil sources. Customs duties are one such source.

Minister Gore said tax exemption should be narrowed to ensure that it is not exploited.

“All over the world, there are exemptions but we are too generous and people tend to abuse this generosity,” he said, speaking to senior customs officials in Juba.

He said anyone applying for customs exemptions should be scrutinized to ascertain the significance of the item being imported in order to minimize misuse of exemptions.

“They [people seeking exemption] bring all sorts of things, asked for exemption and the money just goes to the [UN] agencies, not the country of [origin],” said Gen. Gore, the minister without mentioning any UN agency by name.

There was no immediate response from UN and Humanitarian agencies. Some junior customs officials told Sudan Tribune that UN officials misused letters of exemption to import beverages and tobacco – items that taxed highly and not for humanitarian purposes.

Other agencies extend the exemption letters to companies importing fuel to South Sudan and therefore dodge taxes at the borders despite those companies being owned by businessmen.

One positive note, he said, is the likely reopening of South Sudan – Sudan border.

“They (Sudanese) have accepted the corridor; so this is where you people will now move to establish your offices because those are very important areas for trade, and within the next two weeks the four agreements will now be finalized so that we collect revenues from traders who will now move from there and here and this will add to your revenue collection,” he said.

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The United States says it is disappointed by South Sudan leaders’ suggested decision to abandon hybrid court which was initially set-up by the African Union (AU) with support from the international community to prosecute those who committed war crimes in a more than two-year old civil war, adding that it rejects any attempt to scrap the proposed court.

The announcement came just days after a joint letter allegedly written by South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar appeared in the New York Times.

According to US State Department’s deputy spokesman, Mark Toner, the American government is disappointed and upset at Kiir and Machar’s call to scrap the court.

“We’re disappointed; we firmly support the African Union’s efforts to establish this hybrid court. And we expect the parties to fulfill their responsibilities,” Toner said.

The troika countries, namely Norway, the United States (US), and United Kingdom (UK) were instrumental in the formation of the court.

Machar and Kiir’s letter has been met with fierce criticism from South Sudanese as well as international rights organizations with the Human Rights Watch (HRW) accusing the two leaders of ‘self-serving’.

“Their proposal to scrap trials is a self-serving attempt to evade justice,” HRW international justice associate director Elise Keppler said.

In their opinion piece published on Tuesday, Kiir and Machar argued that South Sudan only needs reconciliation not trials, adding that they intend to create a “national truth and reconciliation commission” which will be based on Northern Ireland and South African previous models.

Reactions from South Sudanese around the world indicate that Kiir and Machar’s case against hybrid court is not popular and could backfire.

Meanwhile, the office of VP Machar has issued a statement, saying the letter was a fraud and accused unnamed individuals of fabrication.

Machar’s office is distancing itself from the letter while Kiir’s supporters insist that the joint letter was in fact written by President kiir and First VP Machar. It is not clear which side is telling the truth.

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