Suicide Bomb Hits Somalia Military Base, Mastermind Of Al-Shabaab Militant Al Qaeda Network

JAKARTA - The explosion hit a military base in the capital Somalia on Wednesday. A few moments later there was a shooting at the scene.

The al-Shabaab militant group linked to al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for what it described as a suicide bombing.

It is unclear whether there were any casualties from the explosion at the Jale Siyad military base in Mogadishu.

"We heard a sudden explosion, then gunfire inside the base as we drove past him, all we saw was a lump of thick smoke," Ahmed Nur, a bus driver, told Reuters on Wednesday, July 9.

In 2023, in a similar incident, a suicide bomber killed 25 soldiers at the same base. In May, a suicide bomber killed at least 10 people after targeting a line of young recruits who registered at the Damanyo military base, opposite Jale Siyad.

Al Shabaab has been insurgency in Somalia since 2007 and is making significant progress in rural areas this year.

"A suicide bomber entered the base targeting Western experts who trained the army," the militant group said.

Reuters was unable to verify the group's claims. Defense Minister Ahmed Moalim Fiqi did not immediately respond to calls for comment.

Somalia's new African Union peacekeeping mission replaced larger troops earlier this year, but funding is uncertain, as the United States opposes plans to switch to a UN financing model.