Five people were killed in a suicide attack by jihadists on a military training camp in Somalia, army officials told the AFP news agency on Sunday.
This attack, perpetrated on Saturday at this camp in Mogadishu, the Somali capital, was claimed by al-Shabaab jihadists a week after a double attack that left 116 dead.
It comes as the government intensifies its fight against Islamists who have been waging an insurgency in this troubled Horn of Africa country for 15 years.
“The suicide bombing happened at the entrance (of the camp) and five new recruits died in the blast and more than ten others were injured,” the official told AFP Mohammad Abdullahi.
“Among the victims are civilians who were staying near the Xero Nacnac training camp for new recruits,” military official Adan Yare told AFP.
No official statement has been received from the government on the attack alleged by al-Shabaab, whose al-Qaeda-linked fighters have stepped up attacks in Somalia since President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud took office in May and launched a “all-out war” against the jihadists has promised.
On Friday, the Ministry of Information said the army had killed more than 100 al-Shabaab militants in an operation in central Hirshabelle state.
Last weekend, militants carried out two car bombings on the Ministry of Education, the deadliest attack in the country in five years.
The attack took place at the same intersection where a truck loaded with explosives exploded on October 14, 2017, killing 512 people and injuring more than 290 others.
In August, the group stormed the notorious Hayat Hotel in Mogadishu for about 30 hours, killing 21 people and injuring 117 others.
The insurgents, trying to overthrow a weak government, were driven out of the capital in 2011 by an African Union force.
But the group still controls large parts of the country and continues to carry out deadly attacks on civilian, political and military targets.