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Wednesday 4 April 2012

Top Somalia Sports Officials Killed In Blast Suicide Blast In Central Mogadishu

The presidents of Somalia's Olympic committee and football federation have reportedly been killed after a female suicide bomber blew herself up in a theatre.
Olympics boss Aden Yabarow Wiish and football chief Said Mohammed Nur were among the dead, said the federation's secretary, Shafici Mohyadin.
At least six people were killed in the explosion in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.
The attacker detonated her suicide belt as the country's prime minister Abdiweli Mohammed Ali was on the podium preparing to address the audience of around 200 people.
Dozens were believed to have been injured, including the national planning minister.
But the PM and seven other ministers standing beside Mr Ali when the young woman set off her explosives escaped unharmed.
Witness Salah Jimale, who was slightly injured, said: "The blast happened as musicians were singing and spectators were clapping for them.
"Huge smoke made the whole scene go dark. People screamed and soldiers suddenly started opening fire at the gate. Some wounded people escaped and ran away."
Government spokesman Abdirahman Omar Osman said: "It was a cowardly act and that will not deter the government from performing its national duties.
"The prime minister will energise the government to eliminate the terrorists out of the country."
Al Shabaab rebels in Somalia have claimed responsibility for the explosion which happened at the newly re-opened national theatre during a ceremony to mark the first anniversary of the start of a TV station.
A survivor of the blast said he feared few people inside the building had escaped death or injury.
Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, the spokesman for al Shabaab's military operations, said: "We were behind the theatre blast.
"We targeted the infidel ministers and legislators, and they were the casualties of today."
Al Shabaab militants were mostly forced out of Mogadishu last year by African Union troops as the rebels abandoned fixed bases and changed to guerrilla tactics.
But despite a period of relative peace in the capital with a lull in street fighting, Mogadishu has been hit by a series of suicide and grenade attacks.
Last October, militants detonated a truck loaded with fuel drums at a government ministry gate, killing more than 100 people.
The national theatre re-opened for the first time in 20 years on March 19 with a concert featuring musicians playing guitars and drums

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