Araweelo News Network
Mogadishu(ANN)-At least five people were killed when a vehicle laden with explosives blew up in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Tuesday, a local official said.”The vehicle was stopped at the checkpoint for security screening when it went off. At least five people were killed including security personnel and 10 others wounded,” said Abdifatah Omar Halane, spokesman for the Mogadishu administration.”The blast was so huge, I saw smoke and dust all over the area,” witness Abdukadir Yusuf said. “I was on top of my house not very far away from the area, it was near the theater and close to the presidential palace.”The location of the bombing next to the National Theater, was about 300 meters from Villa Somalia, a fortified compound in which a number of government agencies are located, and less than a kilometer from the presidential palace, Reuters said.There was no immediate claim, however, the Al-Qaida-aligned al-Shabaab insurgent group, which is fighting to overthrow the internationally-backed government of Somalia, regularly stages deadly attacks on state, military and civilian targets in the capital and elsewhere in the war-torn country.Somalia’s new Prime Minister Hassan Ali Kheyre earlier Tuesday unveiled his new cabinet, made up of 26 ministers including six women, after almost a month of political bargaining.(Staff with agencies)