Three people, including a suicide bomber, were killed Tuesday morning in an attack outside Turkey’s largest overseas military base in the Somali capital Mogadishu.
Somali government spokesman Ismail Mukhtar Oronjo told Anadolu Agency that security guards shot the bomber who was trying to enter the military facility.
“He pretended to be a trainee at the Turkey-Somali military academy but was shot and exploded outside the camp, killing himself and two civilians,” Oronjo said.
He added that no Somali soldiers or Turkish nationals were killed or injured in the attack.
Turkey’s National Defense Ministry condemned the attack.
“We severely curse the terrorist group which carried out this bloody attack, and its supporters, and express our condolences and get-well-soon wishes to the people of Somalia,” the ministry said on Twitter.
“We will not forsake our Somali brothers in their fight against terrorist organizations,” it added.
Another message of condemnation came from the Foreign Ministry, saying, “We condemn the suicide attack perpetrated today in front of a primary school near TURKSOM Military Training Academy in Mogadishu.”
“We share the grief of the friendly and brotherly Somali people, wish Allah’s mercy upon those who lost their lives during the attack and extend our condolences to their families,” it added.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but al-Shabaab terrorists have been known to conduct attacks in the East African country.
The base in Mogadishu was Turkey’s second military base abroad, established in 2016.
With the agreement between the Turkish and Somali governments, over 1,500 Somali troops receive training by 200 Turkish military officers.
Turkey has been providing military assistance to Somalia within the scope of military and financial cooperation deals between the two governments for over five years now.
Turkey also provided the African nation with over $400 million in the biggest aid campaign for the country while it was struggling to fight starvation.
