Shabelle Media Network (Mogadishu)
Abdinasir Mohamed Guled
31 October 2008
Mogadishu — At least 6 people have been killed and 20 hurt by three bombs in a residential area of the Somali city of Baidoa town on Friday night, eyewitnesses said.
The first bomb was hurled in the Khat selling market of the town. It caused crowds to gather before a second, larger device detonated.
No group has claimed responsibility, but security forces have started an investigation on that incident.
Eyewitnesses said that the aim of the blast were soldiers were walking in the bazaars.
Seven more people remain seriously injured, according to hospital sources.
The blasts occurred about 10 minutes apart around 6:30 local time on a busy pedestrian street.
There were scenes of panic, with people covered in blood as they tried to run from the scene. Many victims could be seen lying on the streets and being carried to the hospitals.
About 1,000 were said to be in the area at the time on a warm summer evening.
"The first explosion was not very strong," Hussein Farah, the owner of a nearby shoe shop, told Shabelle.
"Several people came to see what was going on. That's when the second explosion occurred in the exchange market and it injured many onlookers."
Five soldiers have been confirmed included the injured victims, as the soldiers injured at least 8 people when the explosion happened.
Baidoa has been more peaceful than the seaside capital Mogadishu, where frequent insurgent attacks targeting government troops and their Ethiopian military allies are blamed on an ousted Islamist group but in the recent months it has experienced deadly attacks.
Somalia has been without an effective government since the toppling of dictator Mohammed Siad Barre in 1991, plunging the country into lawlessness and warlord rule. African Union troops began deploying to the Horn of Africa country earlier this month.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Shabelle Media Network. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
