Somali officers train under Emirati supervision at a military base in Mogadishu (Reuters - Archive)

The UAE Ministry of Defense announced that 3 members of the UAE Armed Forces and an officer from the Bahrain Defense Force were killed when they were attacked at the “Gordon Base” in Mogadishu, while two others were injured.

The Ministry stated, in a statement published through its account on the

The statement added that the attack occurred "while they were performing their work duties in training and qualifying the Somali Armed Forces, which falls within the bilateral agreement between the UAE and the Republic of Somalia within the framework of military cooperation between the two countries."

He continued, "The Ministry of Defense extends its sincere condolences to the families of the martyrs, asking God Almighty to bestow His mercy on them, and also expresses its wishes for a speedy recovery for the injured."

The Ministry of Defense announces the martyrdom of 3 members of the UAE Armed Forces and an officer from the Bahrain Defense Force, and the injury of 2 others as a result of being exposed to a terrorist act in the sisterly Republic of Somalia, while performing their work duties in training and qualifying the Somali Armed Forces, which falls within the bilateral agreement between the UAE... pic. twitter.com/0LSUpEJPkE

— Ministry of Defense |MOD UAE (@modgovae) February 10, 2024

The statement added, "The UAE continues to coordinate and cooperate with the Somali government in investigating the sinful terrorist act."

For his part, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud expressed his condolences to the UAE and condemned the attack in the capital, Mogadishu, calling for an immediate investigation into the incident, according to the Somali News Agency (SONA).

The Somali President visited the hospital that received the wounded Emirati officers who were injured in the attack, and said, "We offer our condolences to the government and people of the United Arab Emirates who lost the lives of their soldiers in the terrorist attack in Mogadishu. These officers came to our country to participate in rebuilding the Somali armed forces."

According to what was reported by Reuters, the Gordon military base in Mogadishu is managed by the UAE.

Somalia has been waging a war against the Al-Shabaab Mujahideen movement, which was established in early 2004 and is ideologically affiliated with Al-Qaeda, and has claimed responsibility for numerous operations that have claimed the lives of hundreds of people.

Source: Al Jazeera + agencies