Five dead in Mogadishu military bomb blast

MOGADISHU: Five people died in a blast Wednesday including a suicide bomber after he detonated an explosive device at the gates of a military base in the Somali capital, officials and witnesses said.

"The suicide bomber tried to enter the compound but guards stopped him, when he then detonated his bomb, killing three people on the spot including himself," said Farah Barre, a government security official.

"Two more people died soon after from their wounds," he said, adding the attack on Wednesday morning took place at Villa Baidoa, a government military base near the busy K4 roundabout in central Mogadishu.