At least ten people were killed Monday by a car bomb in central Mogadishu in one of the bloodiest attacks in the war-ravaged capital in recent months, Somali officials said. Security sources added that a top intelligence official was the target of the attack, and that he was wounded in the blast.
"The suicide attack took place close to the National Theatre in the Hamarweyne district of the capital when a car bomber drove into a passenger bus. At least 10 people were killed and 15 wounded," a statement from the office of the Somali Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon said.
"Many have been killed, some of them were in a minibus that was hit by the blast," said Hassan Salad, who witnessed Monday's attack. "This is a disaster, there is smoke and dead bodies thrown all around." Al Qaeda linked Shebab insurgents later claimed the attack and named the targeted intelligence official.
"The Mujahideen were responsible for the attack against the non-believer Khalif Ereg," Shebab spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage told AFP. "One holy person took the sacrificial act for the sake of Allah." The Shebab have launched a series of guerrilla-style attacks in Mogadishu. Their aim is to topple President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who took office last year after being chosen by the country's new parliament.