Originally published on November 20, 2013 <br /><br />Somalian Islamist militant group al Shabaab has claimed responsibility for a deadly attack at a police station about 200 miles north of the Somali capital of Mogadishu on Tuesday.<br /><br />According to CNN the militants killed at least 12 people. Al Jazeera reported at least 19 dead. <br />They first forced their way inside Beledweyne police station by ramming a car packed with explosive into the station's gate. <br />Some militants entered the building right after the explosion and started an hour long shootout with police, Al Jazeera reported. <br />Somali legislator Dahir Amin Jesow said some of the attackers were among the confirmed dead.<br />"The death toll can rise," Jesow said, "because the militants unexpectedly entered and shot anyone they saw. We do not yet know the exact number of attackers," Al Jazeera reported.<br />African peacekeepers and Somali troops then surrounded the compound and opened fire. Witnesses said the shooting inside the building stopped right afterwards.<br /><br />A spokesperson for al Shabaab, which has links with al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attack. <br /><br />According to CNN, al Shabaab is fighting the Somali government in hopes of turning the country into a fundamentalist Islamic state.<br /><br />According to Reuters, Somali and African forces pushed al Shabaab out of Baladweyne more than a year ago and over the last two years, according to Al Jazeera al Shabaab has been driven out of many of its strongholds, including Mogadishu and Baladweyne. <br />The group however continues to control rural areas and some towns and has kept up car bombings and guerrilla-style attacks.<br />Officials and police in the town were not available for comment on Tuesday's attack.<br /><br />--------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />TomoNews is your daily source for top animated news. We've combined animation and video footage with a snarky personality to bring you the biggest and best stories from around the world.<br /><br />For news that's fun and never boring, vi
