An explosion killed at least five people and wounded 10 on Wednesday in a market for the stimulant leaf khat in southern Somalia, police and residents said.

The blast, whose cause was not immediately clear, occurred in the busy market in the town of Wanlaweyn in the Lower Shabelle region, about 90 km (55 miles) to the northwest of the coastal capital Mogadishu.

Given Wanlaweyn’s lack of hospitals able to take in multiple casualties, residents said they took many of the wounded to their homes for the time being after the afternoon blast near a busy cluster of khat kiosks.

The blast at the khat kiosks killed at least five civilians and injured more others including soldiers. We are investigating whether there are more casualties and the cause of the blast.

Police said they were investigating whether the explosion was caused by a planted bomb or by a suicide bomber.

“The blast at the khat kiosks killed at least five civilians and injured more others including soldiers. We are investigating whether there are more casualties and the cause of the blast,” police Captain Farah Ismail told Reuters.

“The death toll may rise,” he added.

Residents said the kiosks were busy with soldiers buying khat. “I counted five dead people, including two shoe shiners, a mother who sold khat and two customers. There were 10 other injured civilians,” shopkeeper Ahmed Mohamud told Reuters.

“I could also see several soldiers in uniform being transported from the blast scene but I could not confirm whether they were dead or wounded.”

It was not immediately clear who was behind the blast. In past incidents, the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab militant group has claimed responsibility. Al Shabaab is fighting to overthrow Somalia’s central government and establish its own rule based on its interpretation of Islamic law.

Since being pushed out of Mogadishu in 2011, the group has lost control of most of Somalia’s cities and towns. But it retains a strong presence in regions outside the capital.

REUTERS </s> MOGADISHU (Reuters) - An explosion killed at least five people and wounded 10 on Wednesday in a market for the stimulant leaf khat in southern Somalia, police and residents said, and al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab said it was behind the blast.

The blast occurred in the busy market in the town of Wanlaweyn in the Lower Shabelle region, about 90 km (55 miles) to the northwest of the coastal capital Mogadishu.

Given Wanlaweyn’s lack of hospitals able to take in multiple casualties, residents said they took many of the wounded to their homes for the time being after the afternoon blast near a busy cluster of khat kiosks.

Police said they were investigating whether the explosion was caused by a planted bomb or by a suicide bomber.

“The blast at the khat kiosks killed at least five civilians and injured more others including soldiers. We are investigating whether there are more casualties and the cause of the blast,” police Captain Farah Ismail told Reuters.

Residents said the kiosks were busy with soldiers buying khat. “I counted five dead people, including two shoe shiners, a mother who sold khat and two customers. There were 10 other injured civilians,” shopkeeper Ahmed Mohamud told Reuters.

“I could also see several soldiers in uniform being transported from the blast scene but I could not confirm whether they were dead or wounded.”

Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab’s military operation spokesman, said the group was behind the attack and that its target was the soldiers.

Al Shabaab is fighting to overthrow Somalia’s central government and establish its own rule based on its interpretation of Islamic law.

Since being pushed out of Mogadishu in 2011, the group has lost control of most of Somalia’s cities and towns. But it retains a strong presence in regions outside the capital. </s> MOGADISHU (AFP) - At least 11 people were killed in an explosion in a busy market in a small Somali city north of Mogadishu, a security official and witnesses said.

"Eleven people were confirmed dead and more than 10 others were wounded in the blast which we are still investigating, some of the victims have serious wounds and they are admitted at hospital," Mohamed Abdikarim, a regional security official, told AFP.

Sources contacted by AFP did not yet know whether the blast was caused by a suicide bomber or an explosive device.

The blast occurred at the marketplace in Wanlaweyn district about 70km north of the Somali capital where Khat (narcotic leaves) is sold.

"There was chaos at the market, a number of people died and others wounded, I saw the severed dead bodies of civilians but there were also security personnel involved in the casualty," Mohamed Dahir, a witness said.

Wanlaweyn district is close to the Balidogle airbase where the US special forces have a major base.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the blast.

The Shabaab, linked to Al-Qaeda, are known to be present in the region. </s> Ten Somali soldiers have been killed in a landmine explosion in the southern Wanlaweyn district, the website of the privately-owned, Mogadishu-based Radio Kulmiye reports.

"Military officials based in the Lower Shabelle region, southern Somalia, told Radio Kulmiye that 13 soldiers, including their commander, were in the car and that 10 of them, including the commander, died," the website said.

"The explosion resulted from a landmine buried in the road. The car left Wanlaweyn district and was heading to Mogadishu according to the Lower Shabelle regional officials," the report added.

Yesterday, a suicide bomber detonated a bomb at a market in Wanlaweyn, killing at least 14 people.

There have been no claims of responsibility for the two attacks. The Al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab militant group has staged similar attacks targeting government soldiers in the past. </s> At least 30 people were killed in a huge car bomb blast at a busy market in Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Sunday, officials said, China's Xinhua news agency reported. Somali National Intelligence and Security Agency confirmed the incident at Kawo-Gudey in Wadajir district, saying the casualties were both soldiers and civilians.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Malaysian National News Agency. </s> MOGADISHU (Reuters) - An bomb targeting soldiers in southern Somalia killed seven on Thursday, a government official said, the second such incident in two days.

The incident took place in the town of Wanlaweyn in the Lower Shabelle region, about 90 km (55 miles) northwest of the capital, Mogadishu, when a pickup carrying the soldiers was hit.

“Seven soldiers including their commander died and two others were wounded. They were all onboard a pickup when the bomb exploded,” said Ali Nur, deputy governor of the Lower Shabelle region.

An explosion in the same town on Wednesday killed at least five. Al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab took responsibility. </s> MOGADISHU, Somalia — A Somali official says a suicide bomber has killed at least 10 people at a crowded market in a southern town.

Security official Ali Mohamed tells The Associated Press that the bomber, thought to be with the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab extremist group, detonated a suicide vest in the market in Wanlaweyn, 90 kilometres (55 miles) south of Mogadishu.

Fifteen other people were wounded in the attack. Mohamed says most of the victims are civilians.

There is no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast but the Somalia-based al-Shabab has carried out similar attacks in the region.

Despite being ousted from most of its key strongholds in the Horn of Africa nation, the extremist group continues to carry out attacks across large parts of southern and central Somalia. </s> At least four people were killed and 12 others injured in a in Somalia's capital on Wednesday, the police said.

A told that the car filled with explosives went off as the officials were checking vehicles in Mogadishu's district, causing deaths and

"The blast happened in a traffic area at a police checkpoint. So far, we can confirm four people died in the explosion. We are establishing more details on the incident," the said.

A Somali military and her bodyguards were among the dead, while a lawmaker was among those injured in the blast, the report said.

Abdulkadir Abdirahman Adan, of Mogadishu's free ambulance service Aamin Ambulance, said they took 12 injured people from the scene.

The blast came barely four days after a car laden with explosives went off at El-Gabta junction in Mogadishu's district leaving no casualties.

Al Qaeda-allied group al-Shabab, which is fighting to overthrow the government, claimed responsibility of the latest attack. </s> Mogadishu, Somalia (CNN) A car bomb exploded at a crowded shopping mall in Mogadishu, the Somali capital on Monday morning, killing at least ten people and wounding dozens of others, police and witnesses said.

Capt Farah Osman, a Somali police officer at the scene, confirmed to CNN that the explosion tore through a Mogadishu mall in the capital's business district, Hamarweyne.

The death toll may rise as rescuers search for survivors and some of the wounded are in critical condition, Osman said.

Ibrahim Jama, a witness, said explosion rattled windows of several nearby business buildings.

Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the attack.
An explosion at a khat market in Wanlaweyn, Lower Shabelle, Somalia, kills five people and injures ten others.