{"id":7274,"date":"2021-01-02T22:39:01","date_gmt":"2021-01-02T22:39:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/?p=7274"},"modified":"2021-01-09T20:52:36","modified_gmt":"2021-01-09T20:52:36","slug":"car-bomb-targeting-turkish-company-kills-four-in-somalia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/2021\/01\/02\/car-bomb-targeting-turkish-company-kills-four-in-somalia\/","title":{"rendered":"Car bomb targeting Turkish company kills four in Somalia"},"content":{"rendered":"

MOGADISHU —<\/strong> A suicide bombing near the Somali capital of Mogadishu killed at least five people including two Turks, the Turkish health minister said.<\/p>\n

Abdiasis Abu Musab, military operation spokesman for the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab, said the armed group was behind the attack on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The Somalia-based group often targets the Somali capital Mogadishu with suicide bombings and other attacks, and it has exploded bombs against the Turkish military and other targets there in the past.<\/p>\n

Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca tweeted that 14 people, including three Turks, were wounded and are being treated in a Mogadishu hospital named after Turkey\u2019s president. He did not give the nationalities of the other three people who died.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe strongly condemn this heinous attack targeting the employees of a Turkish company that undertook the Mogadishu-Afgoye road construction and contributes to the development and prosperity of Somalia,\u201d a foreign ministry statement said.<\/p>\n

Turkish security sources said the suicide attacker used a motorcycle. They said the attack took place 15km (8 miles) away from a Turkish military base, which was not affected. The base is Turkey\u2019s largest military installation abroad.<\/p>\n

Somali government officials did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment. The attack occurred outside the capital, Mogadishu, according to residents in the area of the blast.<\/p>\n

Turkish-Somali relations<\/span><\/p>\n

Turkey has been a key source of aid to Somalia following a famine in 2011 as Ankara seeks to increase its influence in the Horn of Africa to counter Gulf rivals like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n

Last January, Somalia\u2019s al-Shabab took responsibility for a car bombing that wounded at least 15 people in Afgoye, with those injured comprising Turkish contractors as well as Somali nationals.<\/p>\n

A group of Turkish engineers was also among those hit in late December 2019 in a blast at a checkpoint in Mogadishu that killed at least 90 people.<\/p>\n

In recent years, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has become a close ally of the Somali government.<\/p>\n

Ankara has built schools, hospitals and infrastructure and provided scholarships for Somalis to study in Turkey. In 2017, Turkey opened its biggest overseas military base in Mogadishu.<\/p>\n

However, that alliance has inserted Somalia into the centre of a regional struggle between Saudi Arabia and the UAE on one side and Qatar backed by Turkey on the other.<\/p>\n

Al-Shabab frequently carries out bombings to try to undermine Somalia\u2019s central government, which is backed by the United Nations and African Union peacekeeping troops.<\/p>\n

Source: News Agencies\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Origin: View original<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MOGADISHU — A suicide bombing near the Somali capital of Mogadishu killed at least five people including two Turks, the Turkish health minister said. Abdiasis Abu Musab, military operation spokesman for the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab, said the armed group was behind the attack on Saturday. The Somalia-based group often targets the Somali capital Mogadishu with suicide …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7275,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-news","category-protection-cluster"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t