A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at the gates of a local government headquarters in Somalia while another bomber targeted a nearby marketplace, killing at least 17 people and wounding more than 30 others, police said. Puntland, a semi-autonomous state in northern Somalia, controls the northern part of the town, while the southern part is controlled by rival regional state Galmudug. Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke condemned the twin blasts, saying that "evil-doers" had targeted innocent civilians. The town, unlike other parts of the country where al-Shabab continues a deadly guerrilla campaign, rarely sees such attacks. Some of the bodies were discovered in nearby houses destroyed by the blasts, said Col Muse Hassan, a senior police officer.

Source: dna August 22, 2016 05:37 UTC