Blast hits military base in Somali capital, al-Shabab claims responsibility

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — A general view shows a section of the skyline of Mogadishu, Somalia, November 28, 2022. REUTERS/Feisal Omar

MOGADISHU  -  An explosion hit a military base in the Somali capital on Wednesday and was followed by gunfire, a witness said, as the al Qaeda-linked militant al Shabaab group claimed responsibility for what it described as a suicide bomb attack.

It was not immediately clear whether there were casualties from the blast at the Jale Siyad military base in Mogadishu.

"We heard a sudden blast, then gunfire inside the base as we drove past it, we could only see a huge cloud of smoke," Ahmed Nur, a bus driver, told Reuters.

In 2023, in a similar incident, a suicide bomber killed 25 soldiers at the same base. In May, a suicide bomber killed at  least 10 people after targeting a queue of young recruits registering at the Damanyo military base, opposite Jale Siyad.

Al Shabaab has waged an insurgency in Somalia since 2007 and made significant advances in the countryside this year.

"A suicide bomber entered the base targeting the Western experts who train soldiers," the militant group said in a statement, adding there were casualties, without providing any details.

Reuters was not able to verify the group's claims. Defence Minister Ahmed Moalim Fiqi did not immediately respond to calls for comment.

A new African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia replaced a larger force at the start of this year, but its funding is uncertain, with the United States opposed to a plan to transition to a U.N. financing model.

 (Reporting by Abdi Sheikh and Feisal Omar; Writing by George Obulutsa; Editing by Ammu Kannampilly and Bernadette Baum // REUTERS)