Terror attack on Turkish construction site in Somalia kills four

A suicide bomber targeted the construction site of a Turkish company in Somalia on Saturday morning, killing four people and injuring another four, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

One of the deceased and all four of the wounded people were Turkish citizens.

The company was working on a road between Somali capital Mogadishu and the town of Afgooye.

“We strongly condemn this nefarious attack, wish a swift recovery for the injured, and stress once again that we stand with the Somali government and people, our friends and brothers,” the ministry said.

Local outlets report that fundamentalist Islamist militia Al Shabaab, affiliated with Al Qaeda, have claimed the attack.

News website Somalimemo cited an Al Shabaab official as saying the attack targeted “white officers” on the outskirts of Mogadishu. The official was cited as saying two “apostate soldiers” were also killed in the attack.

Turkey’s pro-government newspaper Daily Sabah reported that the attack took place 15 km away from a Turkish military base in Mogadishu, Camp TURKSOM, but didn’t directly target the compound. There were no casualties from the base personnel.

The Turkish government has been involved in humanitarian projects and relief efforts in Somalia, especially after the 2011 famine the small eastern African nation suffered, and has operated a large military base in its capital since 2017.

Turkish military personnel and civilians have been targeted in Somalia before, notably in an 2013 attack against a Turkish mission in the country, an 2016 attack in the Aden Abdulle International Airport, and most recently in January last year when a Turkish-run construction site was targeted in another suicide bombing and three people died, with another 20 injured.