Second attempt on Somali MP's life

Mogadishu June 15 2007 - Eight people were killed and several wounded on Friday in a suicide attack and a roadside bomb in the Somali capital Mogadishu, witnesses said.

A suicide bomber rode a motorcycle packed with explosives into the convoy of Mogadishu deputy governor Mohamed Osman Dhagahtur, killing three civilians and two guards, north of the capital.

It was the second time Dhagahtur escaped unhurt from attempts on his life in less than two months.

"Five people were killed and nine others wounded in the blast. Three were civilians and two guards for the governor," Abdi Ismail Gurre, a witness told AFP.

"Six of the wounded are in a very critical condition. They have head injuries."

Three other civilians were killed when a roadside bomb exploded on the road to the main airport in southern Mogadishu.

"The bomb was buried under garbage. It was targeting a government official who frequently uses that route," said Mohamud Hussein Daud, a truck driver.

"Beside the three killed, two others were wounded," added Abdillahi Moalim Aden, another witness.

The attacks come hours after Ethiopia and Somali forces displayed the largest haul of weapons recovered since swooping into lawless Mogadishu districts last week.

Ethiopian troops backed government forces to quell an insurgency in the capital in April after weeks of deadly clashes that killed hundreds of people and displaced hundreds of thousands.

But since then attacks on Ethiopian troops, government officials and African Union troops have persisted in the seaside capital blamed on remnant militants.

Somalia plunged into lawlessness with the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siyad Barre and more than a dozen attempts to restore central authority have since failed.

Source: AFP