At least six people have been killed and seven others injured after a suicide bomber blew himself up on Saturday at the entrance to a teahouse in Baidoa, Somalia, according to police for whom the operation targeted the regional governor.
Read also: Is Somalia on the brink of civil war?
The attack took place in Baidoa, the capital of Bay Regional State about 250 km northwest of Mogadishu, in a tea room where Governor Ali Wardheere was located.
"
A suicide bomber was detonated in the Suweys cafeteria and killed six people,
" local police official Mohamud Adan told AFP by telephone.
“
He was targeting Governor Ali Wardheere who survived the attack.
Two of his bodyguards are among the wounded, including one seriously, and five others (wounded) are civilians,
”added the policeman.
“
The suicide bomber was stopped at the front door by the guards but unfortunately he suddenly blew himself up.
The governor survived with a few scratches,
”said the same source.
“
The police cordoned off the area and I saw the bodies of five people being transported from the scene.
The police stopped the traffic while they evacuated the governor who looked panicked
, for his part reported a witness, Ismail Muktar.
The sixth victim died in hospital.
The attack was claimed by radical Shabab Islamists in a short message posted on a site affiliated with their movement and confirming that the target of the attack was the governor.
The shebabs have been leading a murderous insurgency since 2007 to overthrow the fragile Somali federal government, supported at arm's length by the international community.
They were driven out of Mogadishu in 2011 by African Union (AU) force Amisom, but still control large portions of Somalia.
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