Monitoring Desk
MOGADISHU: At least five people were killed and a regional governor among 11 others injured in a suicide attack on Tuesday in southern Somalia, a police commander said.
A vehicle laden with explosives stormed into a guest house hosting government officials in Bardera, 450 kilometers (279 miles) west of Mogadishu, the capital city of Somalia, said area police commander Hussein Adan.
“The blast destroyed most parts of the building, and five security guards died in the blast,” Hussein Adan said.
He added that eleven people, including governor Ahmed Bulle Gared, were injured.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the suicide attack, but the Islamist group Al-Shabaab remains an active force in the troubled Horn of Africa despite multinational efforts to degrade its leadership.
Mohamud Saney, who witnessed the attack, said they had “never heard anything as big as the explosion.”
“It shook the earth like an earthquake.”
Al-Shabaab has been waging bloody violence and insurgency against the central government in the fragile country for around 15 years.
Bloody insurgency in Somalia
In recent months, the Somali army, in coordination with local clan militias, has retaken huge territory from the militants in operation backed by the United States (US) air strikes and an African Union force.
Despite the gains by the pro-government troops, the militants have continued to demonstrate the ability to strike back with lethal force against military and civilian targets.
In the deadliest Al-Shabaab group attack since the offensive was launched in 2022, 121 people were killed in two car bomb blasts at the education ministry in Mogadishu in October.
Last Month, the UN said that 2022 was the deadliest year for civilians in Somalia since 2017, mainly because of increased mass-casualty attacks by the jihadist group.
Although forced out of Mogadishu and other main urban centers more than a decade ago, Al-Shabaab remains entrenched in parts of rural central and southern Somalia.
