3 Aug 2008

Bomb blast kills at least 20 in Mogadishu

8:37 pm on 3 August 2008

A roadside bomb has killed at least 20 people in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

Witnesses say the explosion hit a group of women gathered to clean the street. They told of bloody scenes with several dozen people injured.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosion but hardline Islamist groups have routinely targeted military convoys in the area with roadside bombs.

Ethiopian troops intervened to help Somalia's embattled and internationally-backed transitional government in late 2006, ousting an Islamist militia that had briefly controlled large parts of the country.