Bomb blast on UN bus kills at least six in Somalia

A map showing Garowe, the administrative capital of the autonomous Puntland region of Somalia. At least six UN workers, including a foreigner, were killed on Monday in a bomb attack in this northeastern town, police said. COURTESY | GOOGLE MAPS

By  AFP

What you need to know:

  • Witnesses and security officials suggested the explosion could also have been from a roadside bomb that was detonated as the minibus was passing.
  • Garowe, in the north eastern region of Somalia, is capital of the semi-autonomous Puntland region.
  • There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Al-Shabaab insurgents carry out regular attacks, targeting both government officials and foreign aid workers.
  • The Shabaab rebels are fighting to overthrow Somalia's internationally-backed government.

MOGADISHU

At least six United Nations workers were killed in Somalia on Monday when a huge bomb destroyed a bus in the northeastern town of Garowe, police said.

"We have confirmed the death of six UN staff, including a foreign national," police official Abdullahi Mohamed said.

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"The bomb is believed to have been attached to the minibus and was detonated near the UN office."

Witnesses and security officials suggested the explosion could also have been from a roadside bomb that was detonated as the minibus, which was used to transport staff from a guesthouse to the UN compound, was passing.

Garowe, in the northeastern region of Somalia, is the capital of the semi-autonomous Puntland region.

AL-SHABAAB INSURGENTS

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Somalia's Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Shabaab insurgents carry out regular attacks, targeting both government officials and foreign aid workers.

"Investigations are still ongoing to establish how it happened, but I can confirm to you that the UN compound was not affected," Mohamed added.

The Shabaab rebels are fighting to overthrow Somalia's internationally backed government.

They have also carried out revenge attacks across the wider region against countries that contribute troops to the African Union force in Somalia, Amisom.

Al-Shabaab attacks in Somalia have targeted key government and security sites in an apparent bid to discredit claims by the authorities and AU troops that they are winning the war.

On Saturday, Al-Shabaab gunmen shot dead a Puntland lawmaker, Adan Haji Hussein.

On Sunday, the militants killed three AU troops in an ambush in the south of the war-ravaged country.

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