A suicide bombing at a military recruitment center in Mogadishu on Sunday, May 18, 2025, resulted in the deaths of at least 10 people, with dozens more injured. The attack targeted young recruits gathered at the Damanyo military base and has been claimed by the extremist group al Shabaab.
Eyewitnesses reported that a crowd of teenagers had assembled at the entrance of the base when the blast occurred. According to Military Captain Suleiman, who witnessed the explosion from across the street:
“I was on the other side of the road. A speeding tuk-tuk stopped, a man alighted, ran into the queue, and then blew himself up. I saw 10 people dead, including recruits and passers-by. The death toll may rise.”
The aftermath of the explosion left a devastating scene, with scattered footwear and the dismembered remains of the attacker. Another witness, Abdisalan Mohamed, described the moment of the incident:
“Hundreds of teenagers [were] at the gate as we passed by in a bus,” he recalled, before “a sudden blast engulfed the area in dense smoke.”
Medical officials at a nearby military hospital confirmed that 30 people were admitted with injuries, of whom six died shortly after arrival. Security forces responded promptly, cordoning off the area and initiating an investigation.
In a statement issued on Sunday, al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack, alleging that it had killed 30 soldiers and wounded 50 others. These figures have not been independently verified, and Somali government authorities have not yet released an official response.
The al Qaeda-affiliated group has been engaged in a violent insurgency against the Somali government since 2007, frequently targeting military and civilian infrastructure in a bid to control parts of central Somalia.
Sunday’s incident bears a striking resemblance to a 2023 suicide attack at the nearby Jale Siyad military base, where 25 soldiers were killed. The latest bombing also follows closely on the heels of the assassination of Colonel Abdirahmaan Hujaale, commander of battalion 26, in the Hiiran region—a development that has heightened concerns about al Shabaab’s infiltration into Somalia’s security apparatus.
