At Least 10 Killed in Somalia Tea Shop Blast, Al-Shabaab Says Responsible

Somalia

MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – At least 10 people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a tea shop popular with soldiers in Wadajir district of Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu on Tuesday amid escalating tensions between the Horn of Africa country’s most powerful leaders, nominally over the murder of a female spy.

Al-Qaeda-aligned Al-Shabaab militant group said it had carried out the attack and claimed to have killed 11 soldiers and wounded 16 others, an assertion the government has not immediately confirmed.

Witnesses said the attacker targeted a gathering of security forces at a tea shop near the heavily fortified Halane base and Gen. Dhego-badan Somali army base, adding that gunfire followed the explosion.

There has no been immediate word on whether civilians were among the casualties in the blast, which comes days after local media reported warnings issued by security agencies about possible suicide bombings after militants with explosive vests had managed to enter the capital.

Al-Shabaab carried out similar attacks in the past, targeting gatherings of security forces in Mogadishu but the latest incident comes after security forces split over a row between the President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo and his Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble, a wrangling that many fear could further undermine security in the capital and long-delayed elections due in November.

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