Somalia: Suicide Bombing Kills Five, Leaves Governor, Others Injured

At least five people have been killed and 11, including a Governor, wounded in a suicide bombing in southwestern Somalia on Tuesday, March 14, 2023. 

The attack was not immediately claimed, but the Shebab, an al-Qaeda-affiliated group that regularly carries out suicide bombings in the poor and volatile Horn of Africa country, is suspected.

"A suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden vehicle into a guesthouse in Bardera where government officials were staying," Hussein Adan, a police commander in the Gedo region 450 kilometres west of Mogadishu, said.

He added that the officials included Gedo Governor Ahmed Bulle Gared and several military commanders.

"The explosion destroyed most of the building and five security personnel were killed," Adan said, adding that 11 other people, including the governor, were injured but not specifying the severity of their injuries.

"We have never heard anything as big as the explosion this morning, it shook the earth like an earthquake," witness Mohamud Saney told AFP.

Since 2007, the Shebab rebels have been fighting the internationally supported federal government.

They were driven out of the country's major cities in 2011-2012, and they now live primarily in rural areas.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud, who returned to power in May 2022, promised them "total war".

However, in retaliation, the Shebab continue to carry out bloody attacks, demonstrating their ability to strike at the heart of Somali cities and military installations.

Two car bombs exploded in Mogadishu on October 29, 2022, killing 121 people and injuring 333, the deadliest attack in five years in the country, which is also suffering from a historic drought.