25 killed in Somalia suicide blast

Mogadishu, Dec 28 (IANS) At least 25 people were killed and several others injured in a suicide blast that hit at a security checkpoint near a busy crossing on the outskirts of the Somalian capital of Mogadishu, an official said. Government spokesman Ismael Mukhtar Omar told Xinhua news agency that a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb at the checkpoint on Afgoye road. "I can confirm more than 25 people were killed in the attack," Omar said, adding that among the dead were several students. A police officer at the scene said the blast was targeted at a tax office on the road. "As officials were checking cars passing the road, a car suddenly exploded, causing casualties and damage." There is no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast. Mogadishu has witnessed repeated attacks from Al Shabab, a militant organization that pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda in 2012 and controls parts of central and southern Somalia, said Efe news. It fights for establishing an Islamic state following the 'Wahabi' (an ultra-conservative) ideology of Islamic puritanism.
--IANS ksk/