Sunday May 19, 2025 {HMC} Egypt has strongly condemned the suicide bombing that struck the Damanyo military base in Mogadishu on Sunday, killing at least 20 people and injuring 15 others.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry issued a statement expressing solidarity with Somalia and extended condolences to the victims’ families and the Somali people.
The attack, claimed by Al-Shabaab, targeted a line of young recruits waiting to register at the military base. Eyewitnesses said that the attacker, appearing to be a young man, briefly mingled with the recruits before detonating the explosives.
A survivor told local media, “He seemed off, but no one had the chance to react,” describing the chaos and devastation that followed the blast.
Egypt’s statement emphasized its support for Somali national institutions, including security and military forces, and highlighted the urgency of empowering Somali state structures to combat terrorism, extremism, and to regain full territorial control.
The bombing came just one day after Colonel Abdirahmaan Hujaale, a battalion commander, was assassinated in Hiiran region, and weeks after President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud survived an assassination attempt by Al-Shabaab in March.
Al-Shabaab, a designated terrorist organization linked to al-Qaeda, has waged a deadly insurgency against the Somali government for over a decade, frequently targeting military, government, and civilian sites in a bid to destabilize the country.
