4 killed, many hurt in roadside blast in Somalia terror attack

MOGADISHU, Somalia

At least four people were killed and several others wounded in a roadside bomb attack targeting a water hauling vehicle meant for drought victims in Somalia's Lower Juba region on Thursday, state media and police said.

The IED was planted by the al-Shabaab terror group on the outskirts of Kismayo, a port city in the region, according to the Somali National Television.

The attack came hours after overnight gunfight and mortar shelling in central Somalia resulted in the death of at least two children.

The attackers targeted a military base of Djiboutian forces serving under the African Union Mission to Somalia in the town of Beledweyne, the capital of the Hiraan region, 344 kilometers (213 miles) from Mogadishu.

"After midnight, al-Shabaab terrorists attacked our security forces base in Beledweyne, but we were able to repulse the attack and inflicted heavy casualties," a security official in Beledweyne told Anadolu Agency.

Separately, the country’s National Intelligence and Security Agency said it killed at least 12 Somali-based al-Qaeda affiliated terrorists in a security operation in the capital on Wednesday night.