By MOHAMED SHEIKH NOR
Sunday, February 03, 2008
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - A roadside bomb killed eight civilians and wounded nine others when it exploded near a minibus full of passengers in the war-ravaged Somali capital on Sunday, witnesses and hospital staff said.
Hussein Ali, a resident of Wabari district in southern Mogadishu, said he saw eight bodies in the minibus.
Fadumo Dahir, a nurse at Medina hospital, said nine people had been admitted after the blast. Two were in critical condition, she said.
Thousands of Somalis were killed last year, many of them caught in the crossfire as Islamic insurgents battled government troops and their Ethiopian allies. An Islamic alliance gained control of Mogadishu and much of southern Somalia for the last half of 2006, until they were ousted by Ethiopian soldiers supporting the shaky U.N.-backed government.
Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, when rival warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and turned on each other. The chaotic Horn of Africa nation is awash with weapons and divided among squabbling clans.
Source: AP, Feb 03, 2008