A suspected al-Shabab suicide bomber killed several people and wounded others Sunday in an attack on a military recruitment center in southern Mogadishu, Somali authorities and witnesses said.
The assailant, posing as a civilian, detonated explosives outside the Xero Damaayo camp at 9:20 a.m. local time (6:20 a.m. GMT), according to the Information Ministry.
“Casualties have been reported, but details are still being verified,” the ministry said in a statement.
Security forces secured the scene and launched an investigation into the blast.
The al-Qaida-linked terrorist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the bombing.
“The mujahideen carried out an explosion targeting apostates who stayed in front of Xero Damaayo in Mogadishu’s Hodon district. They were enlisting to join the forces,” the group said in a statement.
Witnesses described scenes of chaos and devastation near the blast site.
Adan Yare, a tuk-tuk driver passing through the area, said the road was crowded with civilians waiting to enter the military camp when the explosion occurred.
“I was very lucky because when the explosion happened, I had already driven past the area. The blast shook my tuk-tuk, and when I stopped and looked back, there were several people lying on the ground – some of them dead, others wounded,” he said.
Another witness, Saalim Nur, said he saw the bodies of five civilians.
“I was in a minibus a few hundred meters from the scene when the explosion occurred. The whole area turned to rubble, with stones and sand flying,” he said.
Egypt, which has close ties with Somalia, condemned the attack.
“The Arab Republic of Egypt condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist attack that occurred today at the Damaayo military camp in the capital, Mogadishu, which resulted in dozens of deaths and injuries,” the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Egypt pledged continued support for Somalia’s national institutions and their security and military capabilities to help confront “all manifestations of violence and terrorism.”
Somalia has faced a resurgence of al-Shabab attacks in recent months. The group, which aims to topple the government, has intensified its campaign in the impoverished and climate-vulnerable nation.
In March, al-Shabab claimed responsibility for a bomb targeting the presidential convoy in Mogadishu, and in April, the terrorists fired mortar shells near the capital’s airport.
