An explosion killed at least five people and wounded 10 on Wednesday in a market for the stimulant leaf khat in southern Somalia, police and residents said.

The blast, whose cause was not immediately clear, occurred in the busy market in the town of Wanlaweyn in the Lower Shabelle region, about 90 km (55 miles) to the northwest of the coastal capital Mogadishu.

Given Wanlaweyn’s lack of hospitals able to take in multiple casualties, residents said they took many of the wounded to their homes for the time being after the afternoon blast near a busy cluster of khat kiosks.

The blast at the khat kiosks killed at least five civilians and injured more others including soldiers. We are investigating whether there are more casualties and the cause of the blast.

Police said they were investigating whether the explosion was caused by a planted bomb or by a suicide bomber.

“The blast at the khat kiosks killed at least five civilians and injured more others including soldiers. We are investigating whether there are more casualties and the cause of the blast,” police Captain Farah Ismail told Reuters.

“The death toll may rise,” he added.

Residents said the kiosks were busy with soldiers buying khat. “I counted five dead people, including two shoe shiners, a mother who sold khat and two customers. There were 10 other injured civilians,” shopkeeper Ahmed Mohamud told Reuters.

“I could also see several soldiers in uniform being transported from the blast scene but I could not confirm whether they were dead or wounded.”

It was not immediately clear who was behind the blast. In past incidents, the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab militant group has claimed responsibility. Al Shabaab is fighting to overthrow Somalia’s central government and establish its own rule based on its interpretation of Islamic law.

Since being pushed out of Mogadishu in 2011, the group has lost control of most of Somalia’s cities and towns. But it retains a strong presence in regions outside the capital.

REUTERS</s>MOGADISHU (Reuters) - An bomb targeting soldiers in southern Somalia killed seven on Thursday, a government official said, the second such incident in two days.

The incident took place in the town of Wanlaweyn in the Lower Shabelle region, about 90 km (55 miles) northwest of the capital, Mogadishu, when a pickup carrying the soldiers was hit.

“Seven soldiers including their commander died and two others were wounded. They were all onboard a pickup when the bomb exploded,” said Ali Nur, deputy governor of the Lower Shabelle region.

An explosion in the same town on Wednesday killed at least five. Al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab took responsibility.</s>MOGADISHU, Somalia — A Somali official says a suicide bomber has killed at least 10 people at a crowded market in a southern town.

Security official Ali Mohamed tells The Associated Press that the bomber, thought to be with the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab extremist group, detonated a suicide vest in the market in Wanlaweyn, 90 kilometres (55 miles) south of Mogadishu.

Fifteen other people were wounded in the attack. Mohamed says most of the victims are civilians.

There is no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast but the Somalia-based al-Shabab has carried out similar attacks in the region.

Despite being ousted from most of its key strongholds in the Horn of Africa nation, the extremist group continues to carry out attacks across large parts of southern and central Somalia.</s>MOGADISHU (AFP) - At least 11 people were killed in an explosion in a busy market in a small Somali city north of Mogadishu, a security official and witnesses said.

"Eleven people were confirmed dead and more than 10 others were wounded in the blast which we are still investigating, some of the victims have serious wounds and they are admitted at hospital," Mohamed Abdikarim, a regional security official, told AFP.

Sources contacted by AFP did not yet know whether the blast was caused by a suicide bomber or an explosive device.

The blast occurred at the marketplace in Wanlaweyn district about 70km north of the Somali capital where Khat (narcotic leaves) is sold.

"There was chaos at the market, a number of people died and others wounded, I saw the severed dead bodies of civilians but there were also security personnel involved in the casualty," Mohamed Dahir, a witness said.

Wanlaweyn district is close to the Balidogle airbase where the US special forces have a major base.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the blast.

The Shabaab, linked to Al-Qaeda, are known to be present in the region.</s>MOGADISHU (Reuters) - An explosion killed at least five people and wounded 10 on Wednesday in a market for the stimulant leaf khat in southern Somalia, police and residents said, and al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab said it was behind the blast.

The blast occurred in the busy market in the town of Wanlaweyn in the Lower Shabelle region, about 90 km (55 miles) to the northwest of the coastal capital Mogadishu.

Given Wanlaweyn’s lack of hospitals able to take in multiple casualties, residents said they took many of the wounded to their homes for the time being after the afternoon blast near a busy cluster of khat kiosks.

Police said they were investigating whether the explosion was caused by a planted bomb or by a suicide bomber.

“The blast at the khat kiosks killed at least five civilians and injured more others including soldiers. We are investigating whether there are more casualties and the cause of the blast,” police Captain Farah Ismail told Reuters.

Residents said the kiosks were busy with soldiers buying khat. “I counted five dead people, including two shoe shiners, a mother who sold khat and two customers. There were 10 other injured civilians,” shopkeeper Ahmed Mohamud told Reuters.

“I could also see several soldiers in uniform being transported from the blast scene but I could not confirm whether they were dead or wounded.”

Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab’s military operation spokesman, said the group was behind the attack and that its target was the soldiers.

Al Shabaab is fighting to overthrow Somalia’s central government and establish its own rule based on its interpretation of Islamic law.

Since being pushed out of Mogadishu in 2011, the group has lost control of most of Somalia’s cities and towns. But it retains a strong presence in regions outside the capital.</s>Ten Somali soldiers have been killed in a landmine explosion in the southern Wanlaweyn district, the website of the privately-owned, Mogadishu-based Radio Kulmiye reports.

"Military officials based in the Lower Shabelle region, southern Somalia, told Radio Kulmiye that 13 soldiers, including their commander, were in the car and that 10 of them, including the commander, died," the website said.

"The explosion resulted from a landmine buried in the road. The car left Wanlaweyn district and was heading to Mogadishu according to the Lower Shabelle regional officials," the report added.

Yesterday, a suicide bomber detonated a bomb at a market in Wanlaweyn, killing at least 14 people.

There have been no claims of responsibility for the two attacks. The Al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab militant group has staged similar attacks targeting government soldiers in the past.</s>MOGADISHU, Somalia -- The Somalia-based extremist group al-Shabab says it has stoned to death a woman accused of marrying 11 men. The al Qaeda-linked group's radio arm, Andalus, reports that the stoning was carried out on Wednesday after an ad hoc al-Shabab court convicted the woman in Sablale town in Lower Shabelle region.

Masked men stoned 30-year-old Shukri Abdullahi Warsame to death in a public square, the report says. She was buried neck-deep and pelted with stones by al-Shabab fighters, according to residents of Sablale, BBC News reports.

A self-proclaimed judge claimed the woman confessed to having secretly married 11 men in a row without seeking a divorce.

"Shukri Abdullahi and nine husbands, including her legal husband, were brought at the court, each saying she was his wife," Mohamed Abu Usama, al Shabaab's governor for the Lower Shabelle region, told Reuters.

Al-Shabab has been fighting for years to impose a strict version of Islam in the long-chaotic Horn of Africa nation. The group, which controls large swathes of Somalia, often executes suspected spies and people accused of adultery after convictions that human rights groups say lack the proper judiciary process.</s>Sign up for one of our email newsletters.

MOGADISHU, Somalia — The Somalia-based extremist group al-Shabab says it has stoned to death a woman accused of marrying 11 men.

The al-Qaida-linked group's radio arm Andalus reports that the stoning was carried out on Wednesday after an ad hoc al-Shabab court convicted the woman in Sablale town in Lower Shabelle region.

The report says masked men stoned to death 30-year-old Shukri Abdullahi Warsame in a public square.

The self-proclaimed judge said the woman had confessed to having secretly married 11 men in a row without seeking a divorce.

Al-Shabab has been fighting for years to impose a strict version of Islam in the long-chaotic Horn of Africa nation.

The group often executes suspected spies and people accused of adultery after convictions that human rights groups say lack the proper judiciary process.</s>District police officer Ibrahim Abdi confirmed the military operation saying it was targeting Islamic militants of the al-Qaeda aligned Shabaab group

Five civilians have been shot dead in an alleged raid involving US forces in southern Somalia, elders said on Thursday. Ali Mohamed Moalin, a traditional elder close to Afgoye in Lower Shabelle where the alleged raid took place on Wednesday night, said "two military helicopters" were involved as well as "some foreign special forces".

District police officer Ibrahim Abdi confirmed the military operation saying it was targeting Islamic militants of the al-Qaeda aligned Shabaab group.

"There was a raid by Somali special forces near Afgoye last night, they were targeting Al-Shabaab, but we have been informed about civilian casualties. The security forces are investigating the reports," he said.

Somali commandos often launch operations side-by-side with the American forces that train them. Air assaults and missile strikes have increased in recent months, and with them allegations of civilian casualties.

"There are five dead bodies of innocent farmers who have been killed by the special forces last night," said Moalin.

"Several other people were wounded, and three others were taken alive in the helicopters," he said, a claim that could not be immediately verified.

"The Somali government must ask questions about this brutal raid on innocent farmers who were sleeping when they were killed," said Shamey Yusuf, another elder.

The US Africa Command said it was looking into the allegation of civilian deaths.

The five bodies were taken to a hospital in the capital Mogadishu on Thursday afternoon.

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This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.</s>Al-Shabab, an Islamic group based in Somalia, stoned a woman accused engaging in polygamy to death on Wednesday, the group's radio arm, Andalus, reported.

A court in the Sablale district of the Lower Shabelle region — run by the militant group — convicted Shukri Abdullahi, 30, of marrying 11 men in a row without divorcing any of them. The self-proclaimed judge said the woman had confessed to the polygamy accusations.

Read more: Life in Somalia under peacekeepers and al- Shabaab threats

With local residents bearing witness, she was buried up to her neck in a public square before masked Al-Shabab fighters pelted her with stones.

Affiliated with the al-Qaeda terrorist network, Al-Shabaab is seeking to establish an Islamic state in Somalia, fighting to impose its own harsh interpretation of Islamic law. The courts it has set up do not allow legal representation or appeals.

The militants often execute suspected spies and accused adulterers, with stoning being one such execution. Both men and women have been victims of such stonings.

Polygamy is more common among men in Somalia, who can carry up to four wives. However, women have on occasion taken a second husband without an official divorce, often for economic reasons.
An explosion at a khat market in Wanlaweyn, Lower Shabelle, Somalia, kills five people and injures ten others.