Somalia port blast leaves 29 dead

Al Shabaab militants claim responsibility for attack aimed at thwarting protracted parliamentary elections

ASUICIDE truck bomb hit the entrance of Somalia’s biggest port yesterday, killing at least 29 people, police said, in an attack claimed by Islamist al Shabaab militants.

The fighters said they were trying to disrupt protracted parliamentary elections – part of efforts to rebuild the fractured nation after decades of war. The threemonth vote is due to end on December 29.

Gunfire rang out after the blast at Mogadishu Port, said Mohamed Hussein, who works there. Two others said work had been halted and staff sent home.

The bodies of victims lay strewn outside the capital’s terminal in a street filled with rubble from damaged tea shops.

“At least 29 civilians died and 50 others have been injured in the blast. We believe it was a suicide truck bomb,” said police officer Colonel Abdikadir Farah.

Al Shabaab’s military operation spokesman, Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, said the blast was aimed at police officers stationed close to the port.

“We killed 30 security forces and injured 50. We targeted them because they had been trained to provide security at socalled elections,” he said.

Al Shabaab’s insurgency aims to drive out African Union peacekeepers, topple Somalia’s western-backed government and impose its strict version of Islam.

Around 14 000 people representing Somalia’s federal states have been chosen to pick the 275 politicians. Those members of parliament will choose a new president.

The government, UN officials and international donors have said security issues prevented a broader vote.

Al Shabaab accuses the candidates of being foreign stooges. — Reuters