At least five people were killed and 11 others were injured, including the district governor. suicide attack what happened earlier today southwest SomaliaThis was reported to Agence France-Presse (AFP) by a police spokesman.

Claimed responsibility for the massacre jihadist organization Shebabwho frequently bombs this poor country in the Horn of Africa.

A suicide bomber drove a car loaded with explosives near a compound in Baarder where government officials were staying, Hussein Adan, a police commander in the Gendo area, 450 kilometers west of the capital Mogadishu, told AFP. He added that officials on the scene at the time of the attack included the region’s governor, Ahmed Bule Gared, and military leaders. “The explosion destroyed most of the building and five security personnel were killed,” Adan continued, adding that governor Gendo was among the 11 injured.

The explosion was powerful some thought it was an earthquake.

The jihadist organization Shebab has been holding since 2007 guerrilla war against her federal governmentsupported by the international community. Although expelled from the country’s main cities, including the capital Mogadishu, in 2011, its fighters have established a presence in several rural areas.

The president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who returned to power in May 2022, promised to launch an “all out war” against Sebab. However, the jihadist group continues to carry out bloody attacks, stressing that it retains the ability to target Somali city centers and military installations.

On 29 October 2022, two car bombs exploded in the capital, Mogadishu, killing 121 people and injuring 333. It was the deadliest terrorist attack in five years in Somalia, which is also suffering from a historic drought.

Last month, the UN said 2022 saw the highest number of civilian deaths in the violence-torn East African nation, looking back at numbers from the previous five years.

Source: APE-MPE-AFP-Xinhua.