Somalia: At least 4 soldiers killed in Al-Shabaab bomb attack

FILE - NISA Officers in Mogadishu

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Uganda-trained soldiers were among security officers killed in Sunday's suspected Al-Shabaab explosion, police said in a report, just moments after Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre lauded the progress made in the restoration of safety in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu.

Abdikadir Ahmed Ali is reported to be among at least four soldiers who were recently trained in Uganda who died in a landmine explosion on Sunday evening in the Kahda district, Mogadishu. The explosion was the first in as many days within Mogadishu, which has been experiencing relative peace and stability.

Several others were wounded in the IED attack on their military vehicle, police said, adding that those injured were rushed to various hospitals within Mogadishu for advanced treatment. The Al-Shabaab militants have been targeting security officers who have heightened crackdown against the group in recent months.

Uganda trained at least 3,000 soldiers who were commissioned recently in a ceremony attended by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Kampala. The soldiers, Hassan Sheikh said, were to join the rest of the military in pursuing the Al-Shabaab group across the country as the nation wages "the final assault".

Besides Uganda, Eritrea, and Ethiopia have also trained Somali soldiers who will supplement those trained locally and whose duty is to secure the country from the group. The newly trained soldiers will take the void that the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia [ATMIS] peacemakers would leave upon strategic exit scheduled to begin next month.

Elsewhere, government forces in Mogadishu's Hodan district executed a planned operation on Sunday, leading to several significant arrests. Police said a man suspected to have engineered a recent grenade attack in a police station was among those arrested in the crackdown.

The suspect, Haanta Dheer, police said, was arrested in Mogadishu's Deyniile neighborhood where he was planning major attacks. Two women, purported to have aided the suspect in his assault, were also taken into custody, police said in a report to the media.

Security forces have heightened surveillance in Mogadishu in what is geared towards instilling safety in the busy capital, which was previously a hub for Al-Shabaab terrorists. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud had promised a total crackdown against the militants who have lost significant ground in the country.

GAROWE ONLINE