Nine killed, several injured in Somalia car bombings

At least nine people killed after simultaneous car bombings in Mahas town, central Somalia.[AP]

At least nine people have been killed and several injured in central Somalia following simultaneous car bombings in Mahas town.

According to Somalia news outlets, authorities are blaming the attack on suspected Al-Shabaab extremist fighters in the incident that took place in the Hiran region of central Somalia on Wednesday, January 4.

“The terrorists attacked Mahas town this morning using vehicles loaded with explosives,” a local security official Abdullahi Adan is quoted saying.

“They have targeted a civilian area and we have confirmed that nine people, all of them civilians, died in the two explosions,” said Adan.

According to Mahas town Police Commander Osman Nur, Hiran region is where a major offensive was launched several months ago against the al-Qaeda- linked group.

“The terrorists, after having (been) defeated, resorted to desperately targeting civilians, but this will not stop the will of the people to continue defeating them,” said Nur.

An eye witness, Adan Hassan said the blasts occurred near a restaurant not far from a district administration building in Mahas.

“I saw the dead bodies of nine civilians including women and children, this was a horrible attack,” said Hassan.