At least nine people have been reportedly killed and scores injured in simultaneous twin-car bombings that rocked Mahas town in central Somalia this morning.
Security officials are pursuing the attackers believed to be Al Qaeda backed Al Sahaab insurgents although no responsibility of the attack has so far been claimed.
“They used vehicle-borne explosive devices (VBED). Scores have been killed and others badly injured.” A witness posted on Twitter.
Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has so far declared “all-out war” against Al-Shabaab, which has been waging a bloody insurgency against the fragile internationally-backed federal government for 15 years.
In July, local clan militias known as “Macawisley” launched a revolt against Al-Shabaab in parts of central Somalia, and Mohamud sent in troops in September to support the fight-back.
In recent months, the army and the militias have retaken swathes of territory in the central states of Galmudug and Hirshabelle (where Hiran is located) in an operation backed by US air strikes and an African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS).
But the insurgents have frequently retaliated with bloody attacks, underlining their ability to strike at the heart of Somali towns and military installations despite the offensive.
On October 29, 121 people in the capital Mogadishu were killed in two car bomb explosions at the education ministry, in the deadliest attack in the troubled Horn of Africa nation in five years.
Eight civilians died on November 27 in a 21-hour siege at a hotel in Mogadishu popular with politicians and government officials.
A triple bombing in October in the city of Beledweyne, the capital of Hiran, left 30 people dead including local officials.
And at least 21 people were killed in a siege of a Mogadishu hotel in August that lasted 30 hours before security forces were able to overpower the militants inside.