At least 20 people, including military trainees and civilians, were killed on Tuesday in a suicide blast at a military training camp in Somalia, according to authorities.

More than 20 others were wounded when a suicide bomber, donning an explosive vest, blew himself up at the General Dhagabadan military facility in the Wadajir district of the capital Mogadishu, where hundreds of new recruits were lined up for training, a military official in the city told Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.

Army Chief of Staff Brig. Gen. Odawa Yusuf Rageh confirmed the attack to reporters, saying that 10 people were killed and 20 others wounded.

"A suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance of General Dhagabadan military training camp. There are unspecified casualties, military officials reported," state-run media had said earlier.

Abdifatah Hassan, a police official, confirmed the attack to Anadolu Agency over the phone.

"Casualties of today's suicide explosion at a recruits training center in Mogadishu is over 20. May Allah have mercy on them all," Abdirizak Mohamed, member of parliament and former internal security minister, said on Twitter.

Residents in Mogadishu's Wadajir neighborhood told Anadolu Agency over the phone that they heard a huge explosion sending huge smoke into the air.

"I was having breakfast at a restaurant, suddenly I heard one of biggest explosions in my lifetime, minutes later we saw huge smoke in the air," Mohamed Khalif, a rickshaw driver and Wadajir resident, told Anadolu Agency.

Somali-based al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack, saying one of its suicide units struck the army camp, killing over 40 soldiers and wounding 50 others.

The group has been behind similar strikes in the horn of Africa country that have targeted civilians, government officials, and military sites./aa