About 20 civilians killed in road bomb explosion in Somalia
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People and security forces walk across the scene of a car bomb attack claimed by al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabab militants on the Naasa Hablood hotel in Mogadishu, Somalia, June 25, 2016.
At least 20 civilians have lost their lives and several others sustained injuries in a roadside bomb attack in Somalia.
The bomb went off in Lafole, located around 20 km west of the capital, Mogadishu, on Thursday when a minibus full of civilian passengers was passing by.
According to Nur Ahmed, a local who was driving along the same road at the time of the incident, the packed minibus was being escorted by a military vehicle carrying government troops, which escaped the blast undamaged.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, but it reportedly bears the hallmark of Somalia’s al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab, which has carried out a string of deadly attacks on civilians and security forces in Somalia and neighboring Kenya in the past months.
The explosion comes less than a week after al-Shabab militants attacked a major hotel in the capital, killing 15 people.
In March, the terror group also attacked an army base near Mogadishu, claiming to have killed at least 73 soldiers.
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