A terrorist attack carried out by an al-Shabab militant in Somalia has killed 14 soldiers and injured 20 others in the south of the war-torn country.

According to Somali security sources on Saturday, the assailant targeted a former university building near the southern port city of Kismayo. The site is currently being used by Somali troops and Kenyan soldiers affiliated with the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM).

“A minibus loaded with explosives was detonated inside the training part of the military camp. Fourteen soldiers were confirmed dead and more than 20 wounded,” AFP quoted Mohamed Abisalad, a local military official, as saying.

Abisalad said that an investigation has been launched into the attack. “The incident is still being investigated to establish how the suicide bomber managed to pass by several checkpoints outside the camp,” he stated.

The al-Shabab militant group claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that it had killed “one hundred apostate militia.”

Somalia has been the scene of deadly clashes between government forces and Takfiri al-Shabab militants since 2006.

The militants have been pushed out of Mogadishu and other major cities by government forces and the AMISOM, which is largely made up of troops from Ethiopia, Uganda, Burundi, Djibouti, Sierra Leone and Kenya.