At least 15 people were killed on Saturday in Somalia in a terrorist attack, which the jihadist organization Al Ashabaan claimed responsibility for, that took place near a military training facility in southern Mogadishu.
Security forces have told the local media that several innocent civilian casualties have been reported after an attacker blew himself up outside the Candy Army Base. The fatalities also include several recruits of the military corps, as reported by the news portal ‘Garowe Online’.
The facility is located in a former candy factory and has been the target of Al Shabaab attacks on previous occasions, according to local media.
In addition, several more explosions were reportedly heard on Saturday night in the Somali capital. Local media reported several hand grenade attacks on police stations in some districts of the Banadir region, to which Mogadishu belongs.
The authorities have linked the attack to «military setbacks experienced on the battlefield». The Somali Times reports that the jihadist organization had suffered a major defeat in the last hours in the region of Hiran, in central Somalia.
This Friday, Somali authorities announced the death of more than 100 suspected Al Shabaab members in clashes in Hiran region. A day earlier, a new bomb attack had claimed the lives of three people in the country, including two children.
Somalia is facing an increase in the number of attacks by the Islamist militia, both in the capital and other areas in the south of the country, which has prompted the president to pledge to step up security operations to deal with the threat.
