At
least 16 people have been killed and more than 30 injured after a
suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowded restaurant in the central
Somali town of Beledweyne.
The Islamist militant group al-Shabab has said it carried out the attack.
The Somali government, backed by troops from several African countries, is fighting al-Shabab for control of the country.
Al-Shabab said its target was Ethiopian and Djiboutian soldiers in Beledweyne.
The bombing occurred at a tea shop popular with the troops in
Beledweyne, 300km (185 miles) north of the capital, Mogadishu, close to
the border with Ethiopia.
"Our main target was Ethiopian and Djibouti troops who
invaded our country," Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, al-Shabab's military
operations spokesman, said.
But witnesses, including a Somali MP in Beledweyne, Dahir
Amin Jessow, have told the BBC that most of those killed were civilians.
"There is a lack of medicine in the hospital and they can't
cope with the flood of wounded patients, so we asked the central
government to send us planes to evacuate patients," Mr Jessow said by
phone.
Al-Shabab
- "The Youth" in Arabic
- Formed as a radical offshoot of the Union of Islamic Courts, which controlled Mogadishu, in 2006
- Previously ran much of southern Somalia
- Lost some popular support by banning Western aid agencies during 2011 famine
- Estimated to have 7,000 to 9,000 fighters
- Announced merger with al-Qaeda in 2012
Al-Shabab militants have been
driven out of Somalia's major towns, including Mogadishu and the key
southern port of Kismayo, by a UN-mandated African Union force of some
18,000 soldiers.
But the militants still control large parts of southern Somalia.
Last month, the group claimed the attack on the Westgate
shopping centre in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, in which 67 people died
during a four-day siege.
It said it staged the attack in response to Kenya's army carrying out operations on Somali territory.
SOURCE: BBC
