MOGADISHU, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- At least eight people have been killed and 14 others injured following a suicide bombing in the Somali capital here on Saturday, a medical charity has confirmed.

Abdikadir Abdirrahman, director of Aamin Ambulance, said the injured have been rushed to the hospital after a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle loaded with explosives into a military base in Mogadishu's Wardhigley district.

Police spokesperson Dhame Sadik Adan confirmed that the terrorists had targeted a military base, resulting in unknown casualties.

"There was a huge blast in Wardhigley district and there are casualties which I have not established now. We will provide more information later," Adan told Xinhua.

The number of casualties is expected to rise as counting continues.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, though the al-Qaida allied terrorist group al-Shabab, which has been fighting to overthrow the Western-backed government, has staged such attacks in the past.

Government forces have in recent days intensified operations in the southern regions against al-Shabab extremists, who have been hiding in rural areas and conducting ambushes and planting landmines.

The Somali military, backed by the African Union Mission in Somalia, forced al-Shabab extremists out of the capital Mogadishu in August 2011. However, the militants still hold swathes of rural areas in southern and central Somalia, staging attacks in the city and elsewhere. Enditem

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