Mogadishu(Mogadishu24)-President of the Federal Government of Somalia, Hassan Sh. Mohamud condemned the deadly on General Gordon Army base in Mogadishu’s Hodan district where over a dozen soldiers including officers from the United Arab Emirates and Bahraini officer were among the dead.

” We offer our condolences to our brothers in the sisterly United Arab Emirates, the government and people, for the martyrdom of the officers who fell in the heinous terrorist operation that took place in Mogadishu”, he said.

“While we condemn in the strongest terms this heinous act, we praise the valor and sacrifice of these officers and value their fraternal role in liberating Somalia from terrorism and rebuilding our armed forces. We affirm our thanks and gratitude to the Emirati people, their government, and their wise leadership for their permanent support for the Republic of Somalia and their contribution to its stability and security”, President Hassan said.

UAE Ministry of Defense confirmed that 3 members of its Armed Forces and an officer from the Bahrain Defense Force were killed and 2 others injured as a result of the terrorist act in Somalia, while performing their work duties in training and qualifying the Somali Armed Forces.

The Ministry said that UAE will continue to coordinate and cooperate with the Somali government in investigating the attack.

But the Somali Government did not identify number of casualties on SNA soldiers killed or injured in the attack and it did not also provide more details about the perpetrator, a soldier who was said to be among latest batch trained in Uganda,

Al-Shabaab militants claimed the responsibility for the attack.