சோமாலியா சமாதான மாநாட்டில் குண்டுவெடித்து 2 பேர் பலி

சோமாலிய தலைநகர் மொகாடிஷுவிலிருந்து இஸ்லாமிய தீவிரவாதிகள் துரத்தப்பட்டதிலிருந்து பொதுமக்கள் மீதான தாக்குதல்கள் அதிகரித்துள்ளன
சமாதான மாநாட்டிற்கு வெளியே ரிமோட் கண்ட்ரோல் குண்டு வெடித்ததில் 2 பேர் பொதுமக்கள் கொல்லப்பட்டார்கள்.

Blast kills two in Somalia

June 19 2007 at 01:29AM

By Guled Mohamed

Mogadishu - A large blast killed two civilians in Mogadishu on Monday close to the venue for a planned peace conference that has already been delayed twice over security fears, police said.

"The explosion happened as some government officials were passing, but they survived. However, two civilians were killed on the spot," Abdullahi Hassan Bariise, Somali police head of operations, said.

Monday's blast - the latest in a string of guerrilla-style strikes against the interim government and its Ethiopian military allies - came when an unknown attacker detonated a landmine by remote control as government vehicles passed.

Omar said five suspects had been arrested
Mogadishu's deputy mayor in charge of security, Abdifatah Ibrahim Omar, said two children were wounded in the explosion which missed its intended target. It was unclear if those two were the victims later confirmed dead by police.

Omar said five suspects had been arrested.

Witness Abdullahi Yere, who was standing outside his nearby house, said there were many government troops in the area when the explosion ripped through an intersection.

"I heard a loud explosion that shook the whole ground near me. I saw a burning car thrown high in the sky by the intensity of the explosion," Yere said.

Security experts and diplomats say poor security in Mogadishu and the threat of insurgent attacks necessitated the delay of the reconciliation conference to July 18.

In a separate incident, two former anti-terrorism officials were shot dead in Mogadishu's Bakara market by unknown assailants, senior police officer Ali Nur said.

"They were hoodwinked to come and pick (up) money and were shot dead as soon as they arrived," he said.

Insurgents from a militant Islamist movement ousted from Mogadishu routinely attack government soldiers and their Ethiopian backers, and have increasingly used Iraq-style tactics including assassinations, suicide bombings and roadside blasts.

Nur also said police had discovered a huge cache of arms including machine guns in a house next door to Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi's residence, raising fears for the safety of the premier who has survived several assassination attempts.

The peace conference, which many diplomats say is the interim government's best chance to boost its legitimacy and quell the violence, was due to be held last week at a rundown and bullet-scared former police compound.

But the government postponed it for a second time, saying some clans had asked for more time to choose delegates and that the venue was still being refurbished.

A security source, speaking anonymously, said the explosion was an insurgent move to "edge closer to the venue of the reconciliation conference".

He added: "This is a message they are trying to convey to the government, warning the government against the proposed reconciliation meeting."

Mogadishu is one of the world's most heavily armed and dangerous cities as capital of a nation that became a byword for anarchy after the fall of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

Additional reporting by Ibrahim Mohamed and Farah Roble.