From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Sun Nov 01 2009 - 14:33:21 EST
Four killed in northern Somalia bomb attack: official
01/11/2009
(AFP)
MOGADISHU - A roadside bomb on Sunday destroyed a car in a disputed town
bordering two breakaway states in Somalia, killing a top security official
and three others, a security official said.
"Four people including a (Somaliland) senior security officer were killed in
the roadside bomb attack," said Colonel Abdi Mohamed Wager, a security
official from Somaliland, a self-declared state in northern Somalia.
Five people were also injured in the blast, said the official, which
occurred in the town of Lascanood, which Somaliland and neighbouring
Puntland both lay claim to.
Puntland has declared itself an autonomous state.
The bomb was remote-controlled and went off as officers were getting into
the car, Wager said.
"We are still investigating who masterminded the attack, which seemed to
have targeted the official," Wager added.
A witness, Osmail Farah, said he saw "several burnt body parts" being
removed from the wreckage of the car, which was totally destroyed, and that
several people were rushed to hospital.
The blast covered the area with shrapnel and smoke, the witness added.
The attack came after Somaliland's leader Thursday called for war against
the Al-Qaeda-inspired Shebab rebel group, blamed for deadly suicide attacks
in the breakaway state last year.
The Shebab, who control southern Somalia, have waged relentless battles
against Somalia's transitional government in the capital Mogadishu.
Unlike the rest of Somalia, Somaliland -- a former British protectorate
which broke away from the rump Somalia in 1991 -- has been relatively
peaceful.
Copyright C 2009 AFP.
----[This List to be used for Eritrea Related News Only]----