Addis Ababa – At least 10 people have been killed today after a suicide bomber targeted a line of young recruits registering at Damanyo military base in the Somali capital Mogadishu.
The teenagers were lined up at the base’s gates when the attackers exploded the explosives, an eyewitness told Reuters.
Abysaran Mohamed said he saw “hundreds of teenagers at the gate as we passed by the bus.”
“A sudden deafening explosion occurred, and the area was covered in dense smoke. We couldn’t see details of the victim,” he added.
The army captain who gave him his name when Suleiman saw the attack explained the attack as he saw it unfold.
“I was on the other side of the road. A speeding tuk tuk stopped, a man got off and hit a line and exploded. Ten people were killed, including recruits and passersby.
Dozens of abandoned shoes and suicide bombing ruins are now visible at the scene.
Medical staff at the military hospital said Reuters reported that they received 30 injuries from the explosion, six of whom died soon after.
Separately, officials told Anadolu News Agency that the attack killed at least 11 people.
The government has blocked the area.
There were no immediate claims of liability, but the attack repeated a similar incident in 2023, when 25 soldiers were killed at Jail Siyadh Base across from the Damanyo facility.
Sunday’s attack follows the Saturday assassination of Colonel Abdirahan Hujar, the 26th battalion commander of the Hiiran region, Colonel Abdirahan Hujar, amid local reports of invasions of the government and security forces by Al-Shabaab militants.
Al-Shabaab has been fighting the Somali government for nearly 20 years and has learned that he frequently targets government officials and military personnel.
