A suicide attack at a hotel in north central Somalia killed at least eight people on Thursday, mostly civilians, and wounding more than 10 people, Horseed Media reports.
According to officials, a middle aged man detonated his explosives outside a hotel in the town of Galkayo, killing an official from the Puntland’s Ministry of Finance.
Al-Qaeda-linked militant group al-Shabaab claimed the responsibility of the attack, saying that it killed many officials.
The attack comes a week after Puntland security forces ended a major anti- al Shabaab offensive in the Northern coastal villages, killing at over 200 militants and capturing dozens including children soldiers.
Galkayo has experienced for the past few years numerous explosions and assassinations, which some of them are thought to be carried out by the Radical Islamist group Al-Shebaab.
The town is divided into two parts, the Northern and Southern axis. The largest part is administered by the Puntland authority and Southern is governed by Gal-mudug Administration.
Puntland local authorities have several times accused Gal-mudug for giving safe havens to assailants who carry out assassinations in the Northern axis, but Gal-mudug has denied.
Horseed Media
Suicide bomber kills 8 people in North Central Somalia
Published: March 31, 2016
