A large explosion struck Mogadishu on Monday near the venue where a national reconciliation conference is due to be held next month, witnesses said.
”I heard a loud explosion that shook the whole ground near me. I saw a burning car thrown high in the sky by the intesity of the explosion. There were many government troops in the area,” witness Abdullahi Yere told Reuters.
”There must be casualties but I am not sure.”
There was no immediate official confirmation of casualties.
Insurgents from a defeated militant Islamist movement routinely attack government soldiers and their Ethiopian allies, and have increasingly used Iraq-style tactics including assassinations, suicide bombings and roadside blasts.
The national reconciliation conference, which many diplomats say is the interim government’s best chance to boost its legitimacy and quell the violence, was due last week.
But the government postponed it last week for a second time, blaming ”unforeseen circumstances”. The conference organiser said some clans had asked for more time to choose delegates and that the venue was still being refurbished.
However, security experts and diplomats say poor security in Mogadishu and the threat of insurgent attacks targeting the conference necessitated the delay to July 18. – Reuters