Somalia: Bomb explosion leaves three dead in Mogadishu

Source: Aljazeera English

At least three women have been killed and seven others wounded in the Somali capital after a
remotely detonated bomb exploded in a busy market, police and witnesses say.

It was not immediately clear who was behind Sunday’ s bombing .

In recent weeks, al – Shabaab fighters have increased gun and bomb attacks in Mogadishu, with the latest incident on July 5 , when its fighters attacked the
presidential palace.

The women killed in the blast were city workers , who were cleaning the streets when a bomb hidden in a rubbish pit exploded in the busy market sector known as Hodan district of Mogadishu, police said .

” We heard a big blast , and then I could see the old mothers who were cleaning the scene lying , some of them dead and others screaming, ” Nuria Ahmed ,
a mother of four who lives near the scene, told Reuters news agency.

” The bomb was wrapped in a big, black plastic bag and then placed inside the rubbish along the Taleh
street, I counted three dead and seven others injured . I was the first person who arrived for help . It is very unfortunate if mothers are the target . “

Reuters ‘ witnesses saw the three dead female city cleaners and the other seven injured at the scene
and at Madina hospital .

” A remotely controlled roadside bomb killed three female city cleaners and injured seven others in Hodan district . The militants hid the bomb inside a rubbish pit ,” Major Ali Afrah , a police officer , told Reuters .

African Union forces along with the Somali army launched a new offensive this year against al –
Shabab, which has been accused by US intelligence of being linked to al -Qaeda .

Several towns have been taken back from the group, but officials say al -Shabab still controls
large sections of the countryside and some settlements , from where they have been able to
continue their guerrilla -style campaigns .

The group has also staged attacks outside Somalia, including one at a Kenyan shopping mall in September that killed at least 67 people .