At least 16 people mostly civilians and Somali police officers were killed when two trucks laden with explosives went off near the Halane Amisom base camp and Peace Hotel.
A source from Madina Hospital confirmed to Radio Dalsan that 9 people died from the explosion upon arrival at the medical institute while police put the number of those dead at the scene to be 11.
According to Amisom they had identified the two trucks prior to the explosion and managed to stop them a few meters from the camp”.
Amìsom and NISA managed to evacuate foreigners from the nearby Peace Hotel which had been hit by the VBIED explosion.
Peace Hotel is mainly frequented by foreigners working or visiting Mogadishu.
Radio Dalsan also confirmed that Somalia’s foreign Minister Abdisalam Hadiye resided at the hotel but was not present at the time of the explosion.
NISA has confirmed that it foiled two VBIED explosions targeting Halane camp.
The twin explosion forced the Somalia Civil Aviation Authority to cancel all landings at the Aden Abdulle International Airport. The VIP lounge at the airport was partly destroyed from the impact of the massive explosion.
Alshabaab has claimed responsibility for the deadly attack which comes at a time when Somalia is preparing for the presidential and Speaker elections set for 22 and 12 January respectively.
“Two VBIEDs exploded outside AMISOM’s MIA base in Mogadishu this afternoon. The first one was at a Somali National Security Forces checkpoint” AMISOM tweeted in its official account.
“The explosion destroyed the checkpoint and enabled the second VBIED to pass through towards Medina Gate” Amisom added.
“Our troops engaged the VBIED and it exploded about 200m from the gate. Civilian buildings were damaged” Amisom said. (This is the first quote you use).
“NISA foiled 2 VBIED, which were possibly targeting MIA & AU/UN BASECAMP in (Halane). Both VBIED exploded at NISA Ch/Point & nearby location” NISA tweeted confirming about the incident.
