Car bomb targeting Turkish company kills four in Somalia

iStock (illustration)

A car bomb targeting workers of a Turkish company killed four people, including one Turkish citizen, on Saturday in Somalia, Turkey's Foreign Ministry said.

The company's staff were working on the construction of a road between Mogadishu and Afgoye, northwest of the capital, the ministry statement said.

It did not say who was behind the attack.

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.

Turkey has been a major source of aid to Somalia following a famine in 2011 as Ankara seeks to increase its influence in the Horn of Africa.

Last January, Somalia's al Shabaab insurgents 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.

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.

In recent years Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has become a close ally of the Somali government. 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.

Al Shabaab frequently carries out bombings to try to undermine Somalia's central government, which is backed by the United Nations and African Union peacekeeping troops. 

More from International news

  • Israeli attacks on Gaza killed 60 people in 24 hours

    Israeli occupation forces committed multiple massacres against families in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, resulting in the killing of at least 60 Palestinians and the injury of 162 others, according to medical reports.

  • Trump fires National Security Agency director

    U.S. President Donald Trump fired General Timothy Haugh as director of the National Security Agency on Thursday, according to two officials familiar with the decision, and congressional Democrats denounced the removal of the nonpartisan official from a top security post.

  • Israel steps up Syria strikes, says Turkey aims for 'protectorate'

    Israel stepped up airstrikes on Syria, declaring the attacks a warning to the new rulers in Damascus as it accused their ally Turkey of trying to turn the country into a Turkish protectorate.

  • US sending Israel 20,000 assault rifles that Biden delayed

    The Trump administration moved forward with the sale of more than 20,000 US-made assault rifles to Israel last month, according to a document seen by Reuters, pushing ahead with a sale that the administration of former president Joe Biden had delayed.

News

  • UAE shines in global competitiveness rankings for 2025

    The UAE has maintained its rising performance in the global competitiveness race during the first quarter of 2025 by achieving advanced positions in many relevant international and regional indicators and reports.

  • UAE President marks Senegal independence day

    President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has sent a message of congratulations to President Bassirou Diomaye Faye of Senegal on the occasion of his country's Independence Day.

  • UAE expands cancer prevention plan

    The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) has reaffirmed its commitment to reducing the incidence of cervical cancer and other HPV-related diseases through a proactive national strategy.