MOGADISHU, Somalia — A roadside bomb exploded near a minibus packed with passengers Sunday, killing eight civilians and wounding nine others in the war- ravaged Somali capital, witnesses and hospital staff said.
Hussein Ali, a resident of Wabari district in southern Mogadishu, said he saw eight bodies in the minibus.
“Most of them were women who used to be qat sellers,” Hussein said, referring to a leaf that gives a mild narcotic high when chewed and is popular among Somalis.
Fadumo Dahir, a nurse at Medina hospital, said nine people had been admitted after the blast. Two were in critical condition, she said.
In the neighboring breakaway territory of Somaliland, the top U.S. diplomat for Africa discussed its independence drive with the president and other government members, officials said.
“The aim of my visit is to return the recent visit of President (Dahir) Rayale (Kahin) to the United States and to show closer cooperation for the pro-democracy region,” said Jendayi Frazer, U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs. “We supported Somaliland in its previous electoral processes, and we are also here to continue our support.”
Somaliland’s Foreign Minister Abdilahi Duale said Frazer “made clear U.S. views that the best way to recognize Somaliland as an independent state is to come through the African Union.”
Frazer’s one-day visit, under heavy guard, was the first time a high-ranking U.S. official has visited Somaliland since it announced its independence from Somalia in 1991, after warlords ousted longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
It has been relatively peaceful compared with the rest of Somalia, where thousands of Somalis were killed last year, many caught in the crossfire as Islamic insurgents battled government troops.
