Somali officers arrested over deadly attack in Mogadishu military camp

HUDUR, Somalia (AA): Somali authorities arrested security officials, including a senior commander, after a suicide bomber on Monday targeted a military training facility in the country’s capital Mogadishu, an official said on Wednesday.

The bomber blew himself up inside the Jaalle Siyad military training facility and killed over 30 people, including new military recruits.

A senior official, who requested anonymity, told Anadolu in a phone call that authorities had arrested at least four officers, including a military colonel, in connection with the attack.

“An investigation has been launched after the attack, and I believe that this attack may have been facilitated from inside, but we can’t surely say it until the investigation is concluded,” he said.

He added that those responsible for this “heinous crime” will be prosecuted.

Speaking to the members of parliament after the attack, Somalia’s Federal Parliament Speaker Adan Mohamed Nur Madobe said traitors inside the military camp may be responsible for the “treacherous attack.” He called for an urgent investigation into the matter.

The attack sparked a mass protest in the town of Marka, the provincial capital of the Lower Shabelle region, where the majority of the recruits were said to have come from.

Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack and said it killed 73 soldiers and wounded more than 120 others.

Somali Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that the army backed by the country’s international security partners had conducted separate operations against al-Shabaab, killing 45 terrorists.

Al-Shabaab has increased its attacks since Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mahamud, elected for a second term last year, declared an “all-out war” on the group.