Blast by suspected Islamist extremists claims 17 lives in Somalia

Mogadishu: At least 17 people died as a result of a roadside bomb that hit a minibus not far from Somalia's capital of Mogadishu, media reported.

According to the Garowe Online media outlet, two people also sustained injuries in the explosion, which occurred as the bus was traveling from Mogadishu to the southern Middle Shabelle region.

The Al-Shabaab group (part of the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization, banned in Russia) was reportedly responsible for the blast.

The radical Islamist group, based in East Africa, has long been leading an insurgency against the Somalian federal government, staging numerous attacks in an effort to impose a radical version of Sharia law in the country.(UNI)