Mogadishu: At least nine people were killed and 14 injured on Monday evening when a car bomb exploded at the gate of Somalia’s presidential palace in the capital Mogadishu, police said.
Police officer Ahmed Shire told Xinhua that two Somali soldiers, four civilians and three foreigners were killed. He said some of the people who died “were getting out of the nearby hotel”.
The presidential palace, or Villa Somalia, is the seat of the government. Many government officials, including the president, live and work there.
Sources told Xinhua that the explosion took place after a conference debating the nature of the Horn of Africa nation’s election in 2016 had just ended.
However, most delegates were thought to have left the palace.
Terror group Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack, sources told Xinhua.
IANS
Nine killed in blast near Somali presidential palace
