2 soldiers killed, 2 lawmakers wounded as suicide bomber hits army camp in Somalia

By Mohammed Dhaysane

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) – At least two soldiers were killed while four others, including two Somali federal lawmakers, were wounded in a suicide car bomb blast at an army camp in the central state of Galmudug early Friday.

The camp located in the village of Las Ga’amey was hosting senior national and regional officials, including Galmudug state President Ahmed Abdi Karie Qorqor.

A senior security official in the frontline state told Anadolu over the phone that the regional president and other senior officials from local and federal government survived unharmed but two members of the Somali parliament, Abdi Hashi Dhabancad and Senator Abdi Qeybdid, received “minor injuries.”

“Two soldiers were killed trying to stop the car from entering the camp,” the official said, requesting anonymity.

The Somali-based al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on its propaganda social media platform.

On Monday, Mohamed Mohamud, a member of the Galmudug state parliament, was killed in a bomb attack in the region.

The Horn of Africa country has been plagued by insecurity for years, with the main threats emanating from al-Shabaab and the Daesh/ISIS terror groups.

Since 2007, the al-Shabaab terror group has been fighting the Somali government and the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), a multidimensional mission authorized by the African Union and mandated by the United Nations Security Council.

The terror group has increased attacks since Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who was elected for a second term last year, declared an "all-out war" on al-Shabaab.