MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) A Somali police officer says a suicide vehicle bomber has rammed his auto into the protective perimeter outside a well-known hotel in the Somali capital Sunday, killing at least four people.
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A Reuters witness said blood and pieces of flesh were spattered around the site of the blast which targeted the Jazeera hotel.
Al Shabaab, which wants to impose its strict interpretation of Islam on a nation that is trying to rebuild after two decades of war, killed a three people in two attacks on Saturday.
Police officer colonel Abdiqadir Hussein said it is believed the Islamist militant groups al-Shabaab is behind the attack.
Somali government troops backed by African Union forces on Friday captured the Shebab stronghold of Dinsor, the second town seized from the Al-Qaeda-affiliated extremists this week, the defense minister said. Al Shabaab has been pushed into increasingly smaller pockets of territory by a military offensive this year.
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“We offer amnesty provided the individual meets four simple conditions: reject al-Shabaab; renounce violence; commit to participation in the peace process and the reconstruction of the country; and be an ambassador to others still trapped within al-Shabaab”, he said. Sporadic gunfire was heard shortly after the attack.
