Suicide attacks kill many near Mogadishu airport

Suicide bombers carried out two explosions near the main entrance of the airport in Mogadishu, killing at least 10 people on Tuesday. The militant Islamist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that it targeted the African Union's main peacekeeping base in Somalia's capital. In recent times, the militant group has launched a string of assaults in the capital and beyond in an attempt to overthrow Somalia’s U.N.-backed government.

The attackers used the same technique, which was applied in another suicide attack on a hotel in Mogadishu last month, notes Express. The first blew up his explosives-laden car near the gates of the compound while the other tried to storm the base on foot.

Most of those who died in the attack worked as security guards in a private security firm, writes Reuters. The African Union’s A.M.I.S.O.M force denounced the “senseless” attacks, which it said aimed to “to disrupt and cripple the lives of ordinary Somalis.”

Al-Shabab, which is affiliated with al-Qaeda, has been driven out from many of its strongholds in Somalia but it still remains “a potent threat,” reports the BBC. The militant group has scaled up its activity ahead of upcoming elections in the country.