Wednesday, October 15, 2014
At least four people were killed and several wounded when a car bomb exploded near several restaurants on a busy street in the Somali capital on Wednesday evening, witnesses said.
"I've seen four dead bodies," said a Reuters witness standing near a tea shop and a pharmacy damaged by the blast.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the Islamist militant group al Shabaab has frequently set off bombs and launched gun attacks in Mogadishu. It promised more attacks after it lost control of a major coastal stronghold this month.
"We heard a huge blast followed by gunfire," said Ahmed Idris who was near the Village Market restaurant close to the blast. "I could see ambulances arriving and carrying people but I do not know how many died or were injured."
Idris said several mortar shells landed in the area just before the blast.
Al Shabaab wants to topple the government, which it says is a puppet of Western powers, and aims to drive out African Union peacekeepers, who still provide the backbone of security as the Somali army is slowly rebuilt to form a national force.
Al Shabaab has been steadily driven out of towns in its heartland of south and central Somalia by a military offensive of African and Somali troops. On Oct. 5, the group lost control of Barawe port, which offered a conduit for arms imports.
(Reporting by Abdi Sheikh; Writing by Drazen Jorgic; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)