According to officials, the Somali security minister, Omar Hashi Aden, was killed after a suicide car bomb detonated near a hotel in Beledweyne, located north of the Somalia's capital of Mogadishu.
At least nine other people are believed to have been killed in the explosion. Among the dead was Abdulkarim Ibrahim Lakanyo, a former ambassador to Ethiopia.
The country's president, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, blamed the attacks on the radical Islamist al-Shabaab militant group, which is believed to have links with al-Qaeda. Al-Shabaab later did claim responsibility for the incident.
"I am sending condolences to the family of the Security Minister Omar Hashi who was killed in an explosion in Baladwayne," Ahmed said.

Have an opinion on this story? Share it!
Share this: 






This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.
Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.
Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.
Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.
Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.
Somali minister killed by car bomb