Somalia: Eight killed in roadside bombing, Al-Shabaab claims responsibility

Eight people were killed in a roadside bombing in Central Somalia on Saturday (January 14) with the Al-Shabaab claiming responsibility for the attack. The blast occurred in Hiran district's Buloburde city. A local police commander Abdullahi Mohamud said the bomber detonated a car laden with explosives near an administrative building, a report by the news agency AFP said on Sunday. Mohamud said that five people were killed on the spot while three died overnight in a hospital. The police official further said the bomber had been planning to destroy Buloburde's main bridge before redirecting the attack to a civilian area.

According to witnesses, the blast damaged buildings and the main mosque in the city. "I saw the bodies of five people. Two were elders coming out of the mosque," Muhidin Sokorow, one of the witnesses told the news agency.

ALSO READ |Al-Shabaab kill six in raid on Somalia village they recently lost

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Two separate incidents were reported in Somalia for which the Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility. Police officials said a car bomb detonated in Jalalaqsi, another town in Hiran, but only the attacker died. Another attack was foiled and the suspect, trying to flee a vehicle packed with explosives, was detained, the police added.

Somalia has witnessed several terror attacks in the past and the Al-Shabaab have been waging a bloody insurgency against the central government for 15 years. In recent months, the army and local militia have retaken swathes of territory in the centre of Somalia in an operation backed by US air strikes and a force from the African Union (AU). However, the insurgents have retaliated with bloody attacks.

On January 6, Al-Shabaab militants killed at least six people during a raid in Hilowle Gaab, a village in central Somalia they were pushed out of recently. The militants attacked the village during morning prayers at 5 am (0200 GMT) with car bombs. A spokesperson from the local militia told the news agency Reuters that a gunfight ensued during which the militants were repelled, adding the six casualties included soldiers and militiamen.

Two days before this raid, at least 35 people were killed, including eight members of a single family, and 40 more wounded in twin car bombings in the Mahas district in Hiran. And on October 29 last year, more than 100 people were killed in two car bombings in two car bombings in the capital city of Mogadishu.

(With inputs from agencies)