NEWS- Army Authorities in Somalia have confirmed that at least 5 people who included a Somali military officials and a United Arab Emirates soldier, were on Saturday February 10th 2024 killed after a soldier opened fire at a military base in the Somali Capital City Mogadishu.
The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Defence, has however said that three members of its armed forces and one Bahraini officer were killed in a terrorist act in Somalia where they have been training Somali armed forces and 2 more were injured.
The Ministry statement did not give other details about the attack but said that the United Arab Emirates will continue to coordinate and cooperate with the Somali government in investigating the act.
An Army Officer who identified himself as Ahmed Gelp said that the gunman was a newly trained Somali soldier, who was also shot dead at the Gordon Military base managed by the United Arab Emirates.
“The soldier opened fire on the United Arab Emirates trainers and Somali military officials when they started praying, killing one of the UAE officers and injuring 4 others while four Somali soldiers were also killed,” The officer said.
It’s reported that the soldier had defected from al Shabaab ranks before he was recruited as a soldier by Somalia who are being trained by the United Arab Emirates.
The Al Shabaab militants who linked to al Qaeda fighters in Somalia have claimed responsibility for the attack through a statement on its Radio and claimed that its fighters had killed 17 soldiers.
Two nurses and a doctor at the Erdogan Hospital in Mogadishu, who asked not to be named, told journalists that a senior officer from the United Arab Emirates had died due to gun shots and 4 other officers were seriously injured and in addition about 10 injured Somali soldiers are admitted at the facility.
The Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has issued a statement on state media and offered his condolences to the United Arab Emirates following the incident.
The Al Shabaab Insurgents have waged an insurgency against the Somali government since 2006 to try to establish its own rule based on Islamic Laws.
Additional Reporting from Reuters Africa
