8 injured as car bomb targets army checkpoint in Somali capital

By Mohammed Dhaysane

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) – At least eight people, including security personnel, were wounded in a car bomb attack in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Wednesday, an official said.

The attack targeted a security checkpoint in the neighborhood of Deyniile in Mogadishu.

“A car full of explosives targeted our security forces checkpoint today. Eight people were wounded and rushed to a hospital for treatment,” Ali Hassan, a security official in the Hodan district of Mogadishu, told Anadolu over the phone.

Al-Shabaab terrorists claimed responsibility for the bombing.

Meanwhile, Somali Defense Ministry said Wednesday that the army conducted an operation in the southwestern Bay region targeting senior al-Shabaab terrorist leaders.

In a statement, the ministry said the forces “eliminated” the head of finance in the Bay region and other senior al-Shabaab terrorists.

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.