MOGADISHU, Nov 30, 2006 – At least 12 people were killed when two suicide car bomb blasts rocked the Somali town of Baidoa, seat of Somalia's weak government, police commander General Ali Hussein has told AFP.

"There were two suicide cars full of explosives," he said Thursday, adding the blasts had killed one of his officers, several people inside the two vehicles and the occupants of a third vehicle near the Boynunay checkpoint in eastern Baidoa.

The checkpoint is closely guarded by Somali authorities who keep close watch on those entering and leaving the town, the only one held by the government which is on the brink of war with powerful Islamists.

In Mogadishu, a senior Islamist security official said the bombing was an attack on an Ethiopian military post and an Islamist commander in Bay region where Baidoa is located said it was carried out by "Islamic suicide bombers."

The Islamist official in Mogadishu said at least 24 Ethiopian troops had died but Hussein denied any Ethiopians had been involved and said the death toll was lower.

Witnesses said one of the cars that exploded, a Toyota, appeared to have four people inside. It was not clear how many were in the other, but Hussein said one of the bombers had been captured alive.

"We have captured one survivor," Hussein said. "One of my officers has been killed along with the people in the third vehicle and several civilians have been hurt."

He could not give an exact casualty count but said that at least 12 people had died.

The incident is the second suicide car bombing in Baidoa, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) northwest of Mogadishu.

On September 18, a suicide car bomber unsuccessfully attempted to assassinate Somali President Abdillahi Yusuf Ahmed as he left parliament in Baidoa. The government has blamed that attack on the Islamists.

Source: AFP