At least 19 people were killed when a Somali military facility was targeted by two simultaneous suicide car bombers early Wednesday, the Police said.

The facility in question is located in the Mahaas district of the Hiran region, at the heart of the government’s offensive against al-Shabab terrorists.

"Nineteen people, including members of the security forces and civilians, died in the blasts," said Mohamed Moalim Adan, a leader of a community militia allied with the government in Mahas, the district where the attacks took place.

"The terrorists, after having (been) defeated, resorted to desperately targeting civilians, but this will not stop the will of the people to continue defeating them," said Osman Nur, a police commander in Mahas.

"They have killed innocent civilians in the explosions," he added.

Witnesses said the blasts occurred near a restaurant not far from a district administration building in Mahas.

"It was loud and heard all across the town," resident Osman Abdullahi told The Associated Press (AP).

"I have rescued several people wounded in the attack, including soldiers and journalists who were embedded with soldiers."

Police official Mahad Abdulle told the AP the vehicles exploded in a neighborhood full of civilians and that at least 10 people were killed.

Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack.

Mahaas is at the center of the ongoing government offensive against al-Shabab, the al-Qaida-linked group of thousands of fighters that has controlled parts of central and southern Somalia for years. The government has vowed to defeat it this year.

The Somali army, together with local militias, recently opened a key supply route to Mahaas after it had long been under siege.