One killed in suicide bombing in Somalia capital

One soldier was killed and at least six others were wounded in Somalia when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a military base near the capital, Mogadishu.

The bomber disguised himself as a soldier and joined others as they filed into a military base early on Sunday before he detonated the explosive, said Captain Aden Omar, an officer at the base.

“We lost one soldier and several others were injured. The bomber blew up himself at a checkpoint,” he said.

A nurse at Madina Hospital in Mogadishu said it received one dead soldier and six others who were wounded.

It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the attack but the armed group al-Shabab frequently carries out bombings and gun attacks in Somalia and elsewhere.

The al-Qaeda-allied group wants to topple Somalia’s government and establish its own rule. It has battled Somalia’s central government for more than a decade. The group frequently launches bombings, gun assaults, and other attacks on military and civilian targets.

Last month more than 20 people were killed in an attack in which al-Shabab fighters stormed the Hayat Hotel in Mogadishu, triggering a 30-hour battle as government troops sought to end the siege and free hostages.

The armed group was driven out of Mogadishu by African Union forces in 2011. However, it still controls swaths of countryside.

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The deadliest attack occurred in October 2017 when a truck packed with explosives blew up in Mogadishu, killing 512 people.