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7 Including ministers dead In Somalia at graduation ceremony

by Amitjha | December 3, 2009 at 02:22 am

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Reports from Somalian capital Mogadishu says that a minister is dead in bomb explosion. This incident took place during a graduation day ceremony. Latest reports say that two journalist are there amongst the dead.

A blast at a graduation ceremony in the Somali capital Mogadishu has killed at least seven people, with government ministers among the dead.

The ceremony was being held at a local hotel for the graduation of 43 students from the Banadir University. Islamists are fighting the UN-backed government, which controls small pockets of territory in the country.

Details of the explosion at the Shamo Hotel are still emerging, but witnesses told it appeared to be an attack targeting government officials.

Five government ministers were in the hotel and confirmed that two of them had been killed, including Health Minister Qamar Aden Ali, while the others were seriously injured.

Government and police officials told reporters after the explosion that as many as three ministers had been killed. Two journalists are also reported to be among the dead.

The Shamo hotel is often used by the few foreigners - aid workers, journalists and diplomats - who still visit Mogadishu. It is close to the city centre and the K4 junction, often the scene of clashes between government troops and African Union peacekeepers and Islamists fighters.

Somalia has not had a functioning national government since 1991.

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Amitjha

at 04:27 on December 3rd, 2009

update: 3 minister amongst the dead, latest report says that he death toll is 9.

An explosion ripped through an upscale hotel in Somalia's capital on Thursday during a university graduation ceremony, killing nine

people, including three Cabinet ministers and two journalists. More than three dozen medical, computer science and engineering students had gathered to receive their diplomas at the ceremony at the Shamow Hotel, which sits in the small patch of Mogadishu that is held by Somalia's weak central government.

Thursday's explosion raised questions about the government's ability to even control that small area, which is only several square blocks.

Amy Judd

at 08:06 on December 3rd, 2009

CNN is now reporting 15 dead.

Yuliya Talmazan

at 09:52 on December 3rd, 2009

The latest reports say three ministers were among the 19 people killed in the explosion.

Three government ministers were among at least 19 people killed in a suicide-bomb attack on a hotel in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, during a university graduation ceremony, the African Union Mission in Somalia said.