Al-Jazeera correspondent reported that at least eight soldiers were killed and others were wounded in a car bomb attack targeting a Somali army position in the capital, Mogadishu, on Saturday, and Al-Shabaab adopted it, according to a spokesman for it.

Reuters and Anadolu agencies quoted Abd al-Qadir Abdul Rahman, head of the "Amen" ambulance service, as saying that the explosion - which occurred in the Ratanebda neighborhood in Mogadishu - resulted in the death of eight people and wounding 14 others, in an initial outcome.

An army officer with the rank of major told Reuters that the explosion was the result of an attack, likely by a car bomb. The agency also quoted one of the residents as saying that the soldiers opened fire after the explosion.

Anadolu Agency, quoting a police source, reported that a suicide bomber driving a car bomb blew himself up at the entrance to the military site, and a heavy exchange of fire ensued.

Al-Shabaab, affiliated with Al-Qaeda, has carried out such operations in Mogadishu. Its fighters were expelled from the capital in August 2011, but it still controls large rural areas from which it launches operations targeting the capital and government and foreign military bases.

This movement seeks to overthrow the government supported by the international community and 20 thousand soldiers in the African Union force in Somalia.