At least six people were killed and 10 others injured over the weekend by bomb explosions in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu.
The bomb explosion occurred in a town in the country’s Middle Shabelle region, police and witnesses said.
It was not immediately clear who had carried out the attacks, although the Islamist militant group al Shabaab frequently orchestrates bombings and gun attacks in Mogadishu and elsewhere in the Horn of Africa.
The blast in Mogadishu involved a bomb-rigged car that was parked on a road near the National Theatre in Mogadishu, about one kilometre away from the president’s office.
It detonated, killing five people and injuring seven, a policeman at the scene, who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the press, told Reuters.
The casualty figures were confirmed by another policeman in the area.
A police spokesperson did not pick up a Reuters call seeking comment.
In a separate incident, a bomb planted in a livestock market in Jowhar city in Somalia’s Middle Shabelle region killed one person and injured three other civilians, Jowhar police commander Bashir Hassan told a press conference.
Al Shabaab has been fighting for years to topple Somalia’s central government and establish its own rule based on its strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law.
