Blast kills 6 soldiers, injures 13 in Somalia

At least six soldiers were killed and 13 others, including women and children, were injured in a bomb attack by Al-Shabaab militants in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Thursday, a local official said.

Mogadishu local government spokesman Abdifitah Omar Halane confirmed the toll and said a remotely-detonated bomb was planted by Al-Shabaab terrorists under a tree, targeting soldiers who were resting there, Xinhua news agency reported.

The bombing took place in an area seen as the entrance gate of Mogadishu to the southern parts of the country.

This was the second attack in Mogadishu on Thursday. A few hours earlier, three people were injured when a suicide attacker detonated his explosive-laden car outside a restaurant near Somalia's presidential palace.

The Al-Shabaab Islamist group claimed responsibility for both attacks.

The attacks came as lawmakers are expected to elect a new President on December 28. Parliamentary elections are yet to conclude.

--IANS

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