Hormuud Telecom employees were killed in a roadside bomb attack on the outskirts of the Somalian capital Mogadishu.

The Somalian telco confirmed on X that six members of staff died after their vehicle drove over a roadside bomb in the Garasbaley district.

Earlier this year, a bomb attack destroyed a Hormuud retail store and the operator said there had been other explosions that resulted in staff injury, but did not disclose details.

No one has claimed responsibility for this bombing, but Reuters reported that Al Qaeda-linked militant group Al Shabaab has claimed responsibility for similar bombing incidents.

Hormuud has also previously blamed Al Shabaab for deliberately damaging telecoms infrastructure, including an attack in 2022 that left 14,000 people without access to Hormuud’s services.

For nearly two decades, Al Shabaab has launched attacks on civilian and military targets in an attempt to topple the federal government and establish rule based on its interpretation of Sharia law.

Founded in 2002, Mogadishu-based Hormuud, which has an estimated four million subscribers in Somalia, received the country’s first spectrum license back in 2022. The telco launched its 5G service across several parts of Somalia earlier this year, becoming the first telco to do so.