Suicide bombing in Somalia kills one soldier and injures six

A suicide bomber took the plunge at a security checkpoint, leaving one dead and several injured.

A Somali soldier holds position as civilians evacuate from the scene of a suicide explosion after al-Shabaab militia stormed a government building in Mogadishu, Somalia, March 23, 2019. (photo credit: REUTERS/FEISAL OMAR)
A Somali soldier holds position as civilians evacuate from the scene of a suicide explosion after al-Shabaab militia stormed a government building in Mogadishu, Somalia, March 23, 2019.
(photo credit: REUTERS/FEISAL OMAR)

One soldier was killed and at least six others injured in Somalia on Sunday when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a military base in the west of the capital Mogadishu, a soldier and a hospital worker told Reuters.

The suicide bomber had disguised himself as a regular soldier and joined others as they filed into a military base early Sunday before he detonated the explosive, Captain Aden Omar, a soldier at the base told Reuters.

"We lost one soldier and several others were injured. The bomber blew up himself at a check point," he said.

A nurse at Madina Hospital in Mogadishu told Reuters they had received one dead soldier and six others who were wounded.

Who is responsible for carrying out this attack?

It was not immediately clear who had carried out the attack but Islamist group al Shabaab frequently carries out bombings and gun attacks in Somalia and elsewhere.

An ambulance carrying an injured person from an attack by Al Shabaab gunmen on a hotel near the presidential residence arrives to the Shaafi hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia, December 10, 2019. (credit: REUTERS/FEISAL OMAR)
An ambulance carrying an injured person from an attack by Al Shabaab gunmen on a hotel near the presidential residence arrives to the Shaafi hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia, December 10, 2019. (credit: REUTERS/FEISAL OMAR)

The al Qaeda-allied group wants to topple Somalia's central government and establish its own rule based on its own strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law.