Somalia attack: Bomb explosion kills at least 20 near capital Mogadishu

At least 20 people have been killed in Somalia in a roadside remote controlled bomb explosion on Thursday, officials say. The victims were travelling in a passenger bus on a highway between Mogadishu and Afgoye in Lafole, around 20 kms from Somalian capital Mogadishu. [caption id=“attachment_2856128” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representative image. Reuters[/caption] An Al Jazeera report  quoted Abidkadir Mohamed, a police officer at the scene, “All the 18 people on board the minibus are dead and burnt. A remotely controlled bomb along the road exploded.” Speaking to VOA from the blast scene, Deputy Chairman of Afgoye, Abdullahi Hassan, said, “The blast hit the bus early Thursday morning.” He added that there were around 21- 23 passengers on the bus. The victims were all civilians, Xinhua news agency reported. Though no group has as yet claimed responsibility, it is suspected that the militant group al-Shabab is behind the attacks. The attack comes a few days after Al- Shabab’s attack on a Mogadishu hotel where gunmen wreaked havoc killing over 14 people. With inputs from IANS