Twin blasts rock Somalia’s Bardhere, casualties feared

Multiple casualties are feared after two huge bomb blasts rocked Somalia’s southwestern town of Bardhere in the Gedo region on Wednesday.

The explosions targeted a base housing the Somali national army and Ethiopia’s forces serving under the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), according to State Minister for Environment and Climate Change Adan Aw Hirsi.

“Our soldiers thwarted the first VBIED (Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device) but unfortunately the second one hit,” he said in a short statement on Twitter.

“Al Shabaab and (those) who financed them to undertake these specific attacks will not be able to intimidate us,” he added.

Residents in Bardhere told Anadolu Agency over the phone that heavy gunfire took place after the explosions.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Al Shabab terror group claimed responsibility for recent attacks in the Horn of Africa nation.