By Mohamed Adam

MOGADISHU, Somalia

At least seven soldiers were killed and six seriously wounded in a bomb attack on a Somali military convoy Thursday

“The bomb was a remote-controlled land mine which targeted a Somali military forces convoy heading to Baidoa from a Somali national army base in Doynunay,” Haji Mohamed Bayhal, a Somali security official, told Anadolu by phone.

The Doynunay base is 18 kilometers south of the town of Baidoa, the capital of the southwestern Bay region, some 240 km from the Somali capital Mogadishu.

The convoy was targeted by an IED blast as it was transporting military supplies to Doynunay in the Bay region, where the Somali National Alliance (SNA) and interim South West State administration army have bases, he said.

Abdirahim Osman, a local medical worker, told Anadolu Agency that at least six people were admitted to the main local main hospital “in very serious condition.”

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but security officials accused Somali-based militant group al-Shabaab, as they claimed several attacks in the region this year.

Last year a suicide al-Shabaab bomber attacked the Southwest State headquarters in Baidoa, killing at least nine.

Meanwhile at least two al-Shabaab militants were killed in Mogadishu Thursday night when a bomb they were allegedly planting exploded prematurely, said Banadir administration spokesman Abdifatah Halane.

The bodies of the two were found after a powerful explosion heard overnight at Ex-control Bal’ad in the Hilwa district.