Friday August 5, 2022
Mogadishu (HOL) - Heavy casualties were reported after a suicide truck bomb targeted an army base outside Beledweyne town, central Somalia, on Friday.
Jawil district commissioner, Abdulkhadir Abdi Abdullahi, said that the car exploded at the base's front gate, adding that they would assess the casualties and damage caused by the explosion.
Security forces reportedly fired on the truck before the explosion.
The government troops were stationed at the base as part of a major security operation against al Shabaab terrorists who had been attacking Ethiopian border regions in recent weeks.
Al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack.
The explosion site is located about 20 kilometres from the Ethiopian-Somali border.
Last week, airstrikes targeted Omad village in the Hiiraan region's Matabaan district, where al Shabaab has an army base. Al-Shabaab said that an Ethiopian military plane bombed the village with a missile.