Hommam Al Nassim 
The UAE Ministry of Defense announced in a statement on Sunday the killing of four of its soldiers and a Bahraini officer in a terrorist attack in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, claimed by the “Islamic Youth Movement.”
According to the ministry’s statement, which was published on its account on the “X” website, the victims were subjected to a terrorist attack while performing their duties in training and qualifying the Somali armed forces, which falls within the bilateral agreement within the framework of military cooperation between the two countries.
The statement noted that the UAE continues to coordinate and cooperate with the Somali government in investigating the “vicious terrorist act”.
The official Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported that the bodies arrived in Abu Dhabi on Sunday in a military plane, and broadcast images showing three coffins draped in the UAE flag and carried on the runway during military ceremonies.
The agency, which initially announced that three Emirati soldiers were killed and two wounded, said one of the two soldiers who were wounded died upon arrival in the UAE.
The attack was claimed by the extremist group al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda-linked group that has waged a violent insurgency against the Somali government for more than 15 years.
وصلت إلى مطار البطين الخاص بأبوظبي صباح اليوم جثامين شهداء الوطن الأبرار الأربعة .. العقيد محمد المنصوري والوكيل/ 1 محمد الشامسي والوكيل/ 1 خليفة البلوشي والعريف سليمان الشحي، وذلك على متن طائرة عسكرية تابعة للقوات المسلحة.
وقد جرت على أرض المطار المراسم العسكرية الخاصة باستقبال… pic.twitter.com/Ge05toF5dt
— وزارة الدفاع |MOD UAE (@modgovae) February 11, 2024