6 killed in Somalia Shebab hotel suicide attack

 Somalia's Shebab insurgents said they carried out a suicide attack at a hotel in the central town of Galkayo Thursday in which six people died, including a senior local government official.

"There was a blast, a suicide bomber blew himself up killing several people including a senior official," said police officer Abdiweli Adan.

Witnesses said there was large blast near a cafe where people had gathered to drink tea.

"I heard a heavy explosion and I have seen parts of dead bodies, several bits of them were strewn across the area," said local resident Ahmed Sadaq.

Somalia's Al-Qaeda-affiliated Shebab rebels -- who are fighting to overthrow the country's internationally-backed government -- said they carried out the attack, in a statement broadcast on the insurgents Radio Andalus.

"The mujahedeen fighters targeted the head of the finances for Puntland in the Mudug region, and together with five of his security guards they were killed in the attack," the radio broadcast said quoting Shebab commanders.

Galkayo, which straddles the border between the two districts of Puntland and Galmudug, lies some 650 kilometres (400 miles) northeast of the capital Mogadishu.
Source: AFP