A suicide bomber dressed as a veiled woman killed at least 19 people including three Somali government ministers today at a graduation ceremony in a Mogadishu hotel, witnesses and officials said.
It was the worst attack in the lawless Horn of Africa nation since June, when hardline al-Shabaab insurgents killed the security minister and at least 30 other people in a suicide bombing at a hotel in the town of Baladwayne.
The UN-backed government of President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed controls little more than a few streets of the capital. In the days ahead of today's attack, residents said it had apparently been planning a new offensive against the rebels.
The bombing showed once again the insurgents' ability to strike the government at will, and it will heighten frustration in the country's fragile administration over delayed pledges of military and financial support from Western donors.
Witnesses said the bomber entered the function disguised as a veiled woman and then sat listening to the speeches for some time before approaching the podium and blowing himself up. Police later showed journalists pictures of his mangled corpse.
Somalia's female health minister, Qamar Aden Ali, Education Minister Ahmed Abdulahi Waayeel and Higher Education Minister Ibrahim Hassan Addow all died in the explosion, officials said. Sports Minister Saleban Olad Roble was critically injured.
The African Union peacekeeping force AMISOM said the blast was caused by a suicide bomber and 19 civilians were killed.
Ali Yasin Gedi, vice-chairman of Mogadishu-based Elman Peace and Human Rights Organisation, said more than 40 people were wounded, including the dean of Benadir's medical college, who Mr Gedi said had been evacuated by plane to neighbouring Kenya.
Reuters