MOGADISHU, Somalia – At least five people were killed and seven others wounded on Sunday in an explosion at a teashop in Awdiinle, a small town 30 km west of Baidoa.
Baidoa, a town lies some 250km south west of the Somali capital Mogadishu.
Sunday’s blast, which was a remote-controlled landmine, occurred at a café shop frequented by local people and soldiers, a witness said.
He says the victims were mostly civilians.
Speaking to the media, Awdinle commissioner, Ibrahim Mohamed Nour condemned Sunday’s explosion.
Nour says the wounded were rushed to a hospital the town.
No group has claimed the responsibility for the blast, but such attacks are often carried out by al Shabab, an al Qaeda linked group.
Meanwhile, al Shabab militants carried out an ambush attack on an army base in Bar-Sanguni, a small but strategic township, about 50 km north Kismayo port town.
Residents say heavy fighting lasted for an hour had taken place in the town after militants armed with rocket-propelled-grenades and machine guns tried to storm military base.
But Somali military says its forces had repulsed the attack and inflicted heavy casualties upon al Shabab militants.
It is unclear how many were killed or injured the ambush attack.
The al Qaeda linked group has been battling Somali army and African Union troops for more than ten years to topple the weak-western backed government based in the capital Mogadishu.
