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| Somalia's capital Mogadishu hit by huge explosion | Somalia's capital Mogadishu hit by huge explosion |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| A suicide bomber has attacked a government office in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, causing a nearby school to collapse, police say. | A suicide bomber has attacked a government office in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, causing a nearby school to collapse, police say. |
| The car bomb in Howlwadag district killed three soldiers and injured 14 people, including six children, local officials told BBC Somali. | The car bomb in Howlwadag district killed three soldiers and injured 14 people, including six children, local officials told BBC Somali. |
| The blast also damaged nearby houses and blew the roof off a mosque. | The blast also damaged nearby houses and blew the roof off a mosque. |
| The militant group al-Shabab, which has waged an insurgency for more than 10 years, said it carried out the attack. | The militant group al-Shabab, which has waged an insurgency for more than 10 years, said it carried out the attack. |
| The three soldiers had died as they stopped the explosives-laden car from entering a government compound, local official Salah Hassan Omar said. | |
| Raqiya Mahamed Ali, who was in the compound at the time, said: "We were in the middle of our usual work when the explosion happened. | |
| "I hid under the table. There was a lot of gunfire at our gate... when I came out, I saw many people injured on the ground and others dead," she told Reuters. | |
| Somalia has faced instability and violence since 1991, when the military government was overthrown. | Somalia has faced instability and violence since 1991, when the military government was overthrown. |
| The ousting of Mohamed Siad Barre led to a decades-long civil war between rival warlords, and two northern regions - Somaliland and Puntland - effectively broke away from Somalia. | The ousting of Mohamed Siad Barre led to a decades-long civil war between rival warlords, and two northern regions - Somaliland and Puntland - effectively broke away from Somalia. |
| Much of the country has effectively been a war zone. | Much of the country has effectively been a war zone. |
| A UN-backed unity government was formed in 2012. Al-Shabab has since been driven out of many urban areas but still controls territory in rural regions and carries out gun attacks and bombings on military and civilian targets. | A UN-backed unity government was formed in 2012. Al-Shabab has since been driven out of many urban areas but still controls territory in rural regions and carries out gun attacks and bombings on military and civilian targets. |
| The militant group has imposed a strict version of Sharia in areas under its control, including stoning to death women accused of adultery and amputating the hands of thieves. | The militant group has imposed a strict version of Sharia in areas under its control, including stoning to death women accused of adultery and amputating the hands of thieves. |
| A truck attack in Mogadishu in October last year killed at least 500 people in the deadliest bombing in Somalia. | |
| A man accused of leading an al-Shabab unit that carried out the attack was sentenced to death in February. |