Egypt strongly condemned on Saturday the attack by Al-Shabab militants who overran an African Union (AU) military base outside the southern Somali town of El-Ade on Friday.

The Egyptian foreign ministry extended in a statement issued on Saturday Egypt’s condolences to Somalia for the soldiers who died in the incident.

"Egypt will stand with Somalia to battle terrorism and support the task of the African Union peacekeeping mission of ensuring peace and stability in Somalia," the statement read. 

The ministry also called on the international community to join in the efforts to confront the phenomenon of terrorism in all its forms.

The Al-Qaeda-aligned militants said one of their fighters rammed a car bomb into the Janale base after which gunmen poured into the facility, which is run by the AU peacekeeping mission in Somalia, AMISOM.

Al-Shabab said 50 peacekeepers were killed in the attack on the facility, about 90km (55 miles) south of the capital, Mogadishu. However, the group has been known to exaggerate the number of troops it killed, and officials have downplayed losses, according to Reuters.

Al-Shabaab, which wants to topple a Western-backed government and impose its own strict interpretation of Islam on Somalia, has also carried out attacks against neighbouring countries such as Kenya and Uganda in retaliation against the sending of troops to Somalia as part of the AU peacekeeping force.