Somalia‘s Islamic  rebels on Monday launched two attacks on United States and European military targets.

Officials said the first attack was on a military airstrip which is a base for US and Somali forces in the Lower Shabelle region in southern Somalia.

In the attack, Yusuf Abdourahman, a security official with the Lower Shabelle regional administration said a suicide car bomber detonated a vehicle rigged with explosives at the gate of the Belidogle airstrip.

Abdourahman said bursts of gunfire were heard across the base after the explosions, suggesting an ongoing attack. 

Somalia’s Islamic extremist rebels, al-Shabaab have claimed  responsibility for the attack on the base which the US military uses to train Somali troops and launch drones which attack the extremists’ targets.

The second attack was carried out by another suicide car bomber targeting Italian peacekeepers in Mogadishu, the country’s capital.

Although the explosion missed the European Union (EU) peacekeepers, it injured several Somali civilians who were nearby.