Explosion kills six near army checkpoint in Somali capital

A bomb has exploded near an army checkpoint in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, killing at least six people, mostly soldiers, local officials say. “Six people, most of them soldiers, were killed (by the bomb) which was planted under a tree close to a security checkpoint," the Mogadishu administration spokesman, Abdifatah Omar Halane, said on Thursday, adding, "Several others are also wounded." A local resident told AFP that the area was bustling with soldiers and civilians when the deadly blast occurred. "The situation was okay and everybody was busy minding their business when the blast went off near the checkpoint. I saw several dead people, including soldiers but most of the wounded were civilians,” Mohamed Nure said. The attack followed a car bomb that detonated in Mogadishu earlier in the day. The explosion happened after a vehicle loaded with explosives was driven into a government building housing a popular restaurant. Mohamed Dahir, a Somali police commander, said the driver was killed and several others were injured in the blast. Sources said at least two employees of a local radio station inside the building were among the injured. Abdirahman Ali, who witnessed the blast, said the explosion could cause more severe damage and destruction, adding, "The car rolled over after striking the building but luckily (the explosives) did not go off for a few minutes. People managed to run away and casualties were very minimal." No group has claimed responsibility for either of the attacks yet, but they bear the hallmark of those carried out by the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab Takfiri terrorist group, which has conducted a series of deadly attacks in the African country over the past decade in an attempt to weaken the government. The attacks come as Somalia prepares to hold a much-delayed presidential election on December 28. Also On Sunday, at least 20 people were killed in a truck bombing claimed by al-Shabab militants. The group has been pushed out of the capital and other major cities by the joint forces of the government and the African Union, but it continues to hit Mogadishu despite setbacks. Al-Shabab currently controls swaths of rural areas, from where it carries out guerrilla attacks. Somalia has not seen a powerful central government since former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled by warlords in 1991. Since 2007, some 22,000 peacekeepers have been deployed in Somalia in the form of the multinational African Union force to aid the government in curbing the militancy.