According to various sources, up to 30 soldiers were killed and more than 70 injured in a suicide attack in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu. According to a military official, the assassin blew himself up in an army academy in the morning when roll call was taking place there.
The victims came from the southern province of Lower Shabelle and had come to the capital to complete an education. The attack was one of the deadliest since the Somali army launched a full-scale offensive against Islamist terrorist militia al-Shabaab last year, the official said.
Targeting the army, politicians and businessmen
Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack through its propaganda radio station Andalus, claiming to have killed more than 70 soldiers and wounded around 125. This information cannot be independently verified. For years, the terrorist militia has held parts of Somalia firmly in its hands. In the south of the East African country in particular, it still controls large areas.
For months, however, the Islamist militiamen have come under increasing pressure after the army launched an offensive against them. Most recently, Al-Shabaab had therefore focused primarily on suicide attacks in military facilities and on targeted attacks on politicians and business people.
sti/hf (ap, dpa, rtr)
Source: DW
