At least seven people were killed Wednesday when two cars loaded with explosives detonated outside a military training camp in the southern Somali town of Bardhere.
"The militants targeted regional military recruits with two car bombs. Seven recruits were killed and at least 18 injured," Osman Nuh Haji, the deputy Gedo region governor in charge of security, told VOA.
In an interview with VOA Somali, Bardhere District Commissioner Mohamed Wali Yusuf said regional security forces prevented the suicide car bombs from reaching the recruitment camp.
"We had security tips about possible attacks, and that helped us foil the attacks and prevent the suicide vehicles from reaching their point," said Yusuf. "They [the militants] were close to the base, but did not hit it exactly."
Al-Shabab extremists claimed responsibility for the attack, saying they targeted the camp "because Ethiopian and Somali officials were meeting there." Regional authorities denied the claim.
In March, a similar car bomb attack on the town's regional guesthouse killed several soldiers and injured 10 others.
Bardhere is a strategic agricultural town about 450 kilometers south of Mogadishu. It sits near the Middle Juba region, the only area in Somalia fully controlled by al-Shabab militants.
Wednesday's attack came a day after violence across Somalia that included heavy fighting in the semiautonomous state of Puntland and bomb explosions in the country's Lower Shabelle region that killed at least 36 people.
