Death toll in Somalia car bombing hits five as governor survives

MOGADISHU, Somalia - The death toll in Al-Shabaab's morning attack at Bandhere in southern Somalia has hit five with a regional governor being among those who were wounded, Somalia's police commander said, noting that security teams have since taken over the scene after the raid.

At least 11 people were critically wounded and have since been taken for treatment in various hospitals across the country, according to Hussein Adan, the area police commander. The Al-Shabaab militants claimed responsibility for the attack in the early morning.

Adan said the militants targeted a guest house that was hosting government officials at the time of the attack in Bandhere which is about 450 kilometers West of Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. The militants used a vehicle laden with explosives while targeting the building, he added.

“The explosion destroyed most parts of the building and five security guards died in the blast,” Adan said. Eleven people, including the governor Ahmed Bulle Gared, were injured, he added.

The Al-Shabaab extortionists usually target innocent civilians, security forces, and even senior government officials in their cowardly attacks across Somalia. The attack comes at the time Somalia is coordinating operations against the militants across the country with the sole aim of securing the nation.

Mohamud Saney, who witnessed Tuesday’s attack, told the AP that they had “never heard anything as big as the explosion.” “It shook the earth like an earthquake.”

The Somali National Army is working closely with US Africa Command, the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia [ATMIS], and local militia in fighting the group. For the last seven months, at least 600 militants have been killed with several towns also liberated from the militants.

Recently, a senior commander with the US military in Somalia said the federal government of Somalia has been making numerous requests for aerial support against the militants but the Command has been declining as a strategy to avert possible civilian casualties in the process of launching drone strikes.

GAROWE ONLINE