Mogadishu: A roadside bomb ripped apart a minibus just outside Somalia’s capital Mogadishu on Thursday, killing at least eight people and injuring several others, a witness said.
“There was a terrible incident, a landmine hit a civilian minibus,” said Mohammad Wedow, a witness at the scene.
“At least eight people died and more than 20 others were wounded in the blast.”
An AFP journalist at the bomb site at Lafole, some 18 kilometres outside Mogadishu, said the vehicle had been torn apart by the blast.
Witnesses said they believed the blast had been caused by a landmine.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, but Somalia’s Al Qaida-linked Shabaab has carried out a string of similar attacks.
“Nearly 10 are dead and more than that are wounded, it is terrible,” said Abdurahman Hussain, a resident at a nearby village.
He said all passengers on the bus were either killed or wounded.
Some of those pulled out of wreckage were badly hit and the death toll is feared to rise.
Shabaab militants were chased out of Mogadishu in 2011 but remain a dangerous threat in both Somalia and neighbouring Kenya, where they carry out frequent attacks.
The militants are fighting to overthrow Somalia’s internationally backed government.
