MOGADISHU: Six people were killed in a southern Somali port town on Saturday after a suicide bomber targeted the house of a prominent anti-Shebab militia leader, the intended victim said.
"The explosion occurred soon after I entered the house," tribal leader Iftin Hassan Basto said in a statement.
"My security guards saw a man who tried to infiltrate them and when they confronted him he blew himself up."
Basto added that six people, including a child, were killed and seven others injured.
The attack took place in the town of Kismayo, a former stronghold of Somalia's Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab.
"We knew they were planning such attacks and we will continue fighting these terrorists," said Basto.
One witness, Ali Mohamed, said: "The explosion was huge and several dead bodies were removed from the house. Security forces have cordoned off the area after the explosion." (AFP)
