Beledweyne — A string of early morning explosions rocked the central city of Beledweyne targeting Somali government troops in the area, reports said on Saturday.

According to local sources, the attack which officials speculate were improvised explosive devices (IEDs) targeted forces as they were preparing to conduct security operations in parts of the town, 350 Km north of Mogadishu.

It is unclear how many casualties were killed in the successive blast that residents of Beledweyne rouse to. Both Transitional Federal Government (TFG) officials and Ethiopian military officials have not yet released statements on casualties in Saturday morning's blast.

There has been no confirmation on if the attack came from Al Shabaab militants, who previously controlled the town for three years.