A number of Somalis, including soldiers, were killed and others wounded in a suicide bombing at the entrance to a military base west of the capital Mogadishu, a week after 116 people were killed in two simultaneous explosions.
A Somali security source told Anadolu Agency that a suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt blew himself up yesterday, Saturday, at the entrance to the heavily guarded base, while a Somali military official told German News Agency that 11 Somali army recruits were killed in the attack and 15 others were wounded.
For its part, the Somali National News Agency reported that the suicide bombing caused civilian casualties, without mentioning their number.
Meanwhile, Agence France-Presse reported that the "Al-Shabab" movement blamed the suicide bombing that took place in the "Na'na" camp for army conscripts.
While there was no official statement from the government regarding the attack.
The bombing comes at a time when government forces, in cooperation with tribal militias, continue military operations against the rebel youth movement, during which they killed dozens of the movement's members and regained control of many areas, according to official announcements.
The Somali Ministry of Information had announced on Friday that the army had killed more than 100 fighters from the movement in an operation in the state of Hirshabelle in the center of the country.
It is noteworthy that Al-Shabaab carried out two simultaneous bombings last week targeting the headquarters of the Ministry of Education in Mogadishu, in an attack considered the deadliest in the country in five years.
For years, Somalia has been waging a war against the armed Al-Shabab movement, which was founded in early 2004, and has adopted many operations that have claimed hundreds of lives.
The movement's fighters were forced to withdraw from the Somali capital in 2011, but the movement still controls large parts of the countryside and continues to launch bloody attacks on civilian, military and political targets.