At least 6 dead, 12 wounded in bus explosion in Somalia

Mogadishu, Aug 9 (EFE).- At least six people were killed and 12 others were wounded after a roadside bomb hit a passenger bus carrying businessmen on Wednesday in southern Somalia, the state news agency said.

“The explosion was caused by a terrorist attack,” said Mohamed Ibrahim, the governor of Lower Shabelle region where the attack occurred, according to Somali National News Agency.

“The victims were business people targeted by the terrorists,” on a road between Marka and Qoryooley districts of the country, the governor added.

Children were also among the 12 injured, who were taken to Shalaanbot hospital for treatment.

The governor did not say which group was behind the attack in the country, where al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab has taken responsibility for most attacks in the past.

Al-Shabaab seeks to topple the central government and establish its own ultra-conservative Islamic state in Somalia.

The group, which controls rural areas in central and southern Somalia, has also carried out attacks in neighboring Kenya and Ethiopia.

Somalia has been in a perpetual state of war and chaos since the collapse of the government led by dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

Since then, the administration has lacked an effective governing structure, making it susceptible to the influence of Islamic militants, warlords, and criminal organizations. EFE

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