MOGADISHU (KAAB TV) – A suicide car bomber targeted an army base in Beledweyne, in the central Somalia region of Beledweyne, on Sunday afternoon, causing numerous deaths and injuries and rocking the entire city.
Residents reported that the suicide bomber targeted the base where newly trained forces were stationed.
An Al-Shabaab statement said they targeted the base, which hosts Somali forces trained in Eritrea. The group claims 29 deaths, but those figures cannot be independently verified.
Security sources said the explosives-laden car entered the base in the Hawlwadag neighborhood, which had been vacated by the Djiboutian contingent.
The Djiboutian contingent was part of the AU forces and was involved in the ongoing ATMIS drawdown.
The attack comes as ATMIS forces began vacating their bases in the Hiiraan region and handing over responsibilities to Somali forces under the Hirshabelle state and the local clan militia.
Somali authorities and ATMIS have not commented on the attack.
As night fell, there was chaos in the city. Many of the injured were taken to local hospitals, which do not have adequate services and medicines.