Car bomb outside Ethiopian army base kills at least 10 in Somalia

BARDERE, Somalia - A car bomb targeting a sprawling Ethiopian military outpost in Somalia killed at least 10 people and wounded several others on Saturday, an attack claim by Islamist al Shabaab militants.

A witness told Garowe Online that the soldiers fired at the explosives-laden minibus before reaching the base in Bardere district of Gedo region early in the morning and subsequently it exploded outside.

Capt. Aden Hassan, a Somali police officer at the scene of the explosion saw a wrecked minibus, human flesh and damage to the gate of the military camp. The area was sealed off following the incident.

The powerful blast near the city's airstrip left ten people, including two Ethiopian soldiers dead.

Bardere, which is situated 460km (285 miles) west of the capital Mogadishu fell to Somali and AU troops in 2015 after pushing Al-Shabaab out of the key town during a joint offensive. 

The attack came two days after an Ethiopian Lt. Gen. Tigabu Yilma Wondimhunegn took over at the helm of the rotating command of the UN-backed African Union Mission in Somalia, known as [AMISOM].

The African Union [AU] mission is helping Somali government in the fight against the extremist group which is battling for control of the country since 2006.

The Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the assault and said it killed 16 Ethiopian soldiers. However, Garowe Online could not independently verify the authenticity of the claim.

GAROWE ONLINE