A suicide bombing at an army recruitment center in Mogadishu, Somalia, has resulted in multiple fatalities.
On Sunday, the attacker struck a line of young recruits waiting outside the Damanyo base, leading to the deaths of at least 13 individuals, according to witnesses cited by the Associated Press.
Abdulkadir Hassan Mohamed, a tuk-tuk driver who witnessed the explosion, described the scene, stating, ‘There was a loud explosion, and immediately people began running in all directions.
Bodies were everywhere.’ No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Eyewitnesses reported that teenagers were gathered at the base’s entrance when the bomber detonated the explosives.
Abdisalan Mohamed recounted seeing ‘hundreds of teenagers at the gate as we passed by in a bus’ before a deafening blast engulfed the area in smoke, obscuring the details of the casualties.
A military captain named Suleiman provided an account of the unfolding events. The aftermath revealed dozens of abandoned shoes and remnants of the bomber at the site.
Medical personnel at the military hospital reported treating 30 injured individuals, with six succumbing to their injuries shortly after arrival.
An official informed the Anadolu news agency that the attack had claimed at least 11 lives, prompting the government to secure the area.
This incident mirrors a similar attack in 2023, where a suicide bomber killed 25 soldiers at the nearby Jale Siyad base.
The assault on Sunday comes in the wake of the assassination of Colonel Abdirahmaan Hujaale, the commander of Battalion 26, which occurred on Saturday in the Hiiran region.
This incident coincides with local reports indicating that the al-Shabab militant group has been infiltrating both government and security forces.
Al-Shabab has been engaged in conflict with the Somali government for almost twenty years, often focusing its attacks on government officials and military personnel.
