Bomber Kills Military Recruits Waiting in Line to Register

A suicide bomber in the Somali capital of Mogadishu on Sunday targeted young recruits waiting to register at a military camp, killing at least 13 people and wounding 21 others, witnesses said. A soldier who was part of the camp's guard unit told the AP that the recruits were waiting patiently in line. "The explosion was devastating. I saw many casualties," he said. "The attacker disguised himself as a recruit before blowing himself up." He said the dead included five civilian passersby. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Mogadishu has been repeatedly targeted by the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab extremist group, which has waged an insurgency for over a decade. The group frequently attacks military and government sites as part of its effort to impose its strict interpretation of Islamic law. "There was a loud explosion, and immediately people began running in all directions. Bodies were everywhere," said Abdulkadir Hassan Mohamed, a tuk-tuk driver who witnessed the blast. A similar attack in July 2023 at the Jaalle Siyaad Military Academy in Mogadishu killed 25 soldiers and wounded 70. Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for that attack. (More Somalia stories.)