Seven killed in Somalia bomb blast

A bomb blast destroyed two houses near Somalia’s violent capital, killing seven people, including four children.

The seven were watching television when the explosion occurred.

“It was awful,” said Mohamed Ali Roble, a relative of the family who had fled the growing violence in Mogadishu last month to stay with relatives in Afgoye, a town 18 miles to the east. “They were all lying in a pool of blood.”

Police say the explosion was caused by a bomb, but are still investigating.

Since the transitional government, backed by Ethiopian forces, drove out a rival Islamic movement late last year, hundreds of civilians have been caught in the crossfire of increasingly violent clashes between insurgents and government forces, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

About 40,000 people have fled the violence in Mogadishu in the last month alone, according to the United Nations.

Meanwhile a leading Somali human rights activist has been shot dead, the UN and human rights groups said today. The groups condemned the killing of Isse Abdi Isse, who they said was shot dead by two gunmen on Wednesday while drinking tea near a hotel where he was staying in the capital, Mogadishu.

“Isse championed human rights causes in the region for many years and his death is undoubtedly a loss to all Somalis who at this time are seeking peace and reconciliation,” said Eric Laroche, the UN humanitarian co-ordinator for Somalia.

Mr Laroche said civil society groups were increasingly becoming the targets of attacks because of the work they were doing in the country.

Isse was the chairman and founder of the Kasima Peace and Development Organisation, which was based in the southern port city of Kismayo.