Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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June 3, 2007

Truck Bomb Explodes Outside Somali Prime Minister's Home
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=17B31E0:A6F02AD83191E160E29EE3AD42D11F669574F7DCC14957C0 Somali officials
reported that a US warship bombarded Islamist hideouts late Friday and
Saturday near the coastal town of Bargal  Officials in Somalia say a
suicide bomber has blown up a truck outside the Mogadishu home of
Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi.

The officials say the prime minister is safe but that the blast today
(Sunday) killed several people and wounded others.

Witnesses say the suicide bomber had forced the truck past a gate and
toward the prime minister's house.

Mr. Gedi's government has struggled to assert authority across Somalia
amid frequent attacks blamed on clan fighters and Islamists.

Earlier, officials in Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region said
local troops backed by U.S. naval forces killed at least eight
Islamist fighters in the past two days.

Somali officials reported Saturday that a U.S. warship bombarded
Islamist hideouts Friday and Saturday near the coastal town of Bargal.

Puntland officials say the combined actions of local and U.S. forces
"defeated" the Islamists, who had set up bases in the region over the
past week.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates Sunday refused to comment on the
events in Puntland, other than to say it was "possibly an ongoing
operation."

Puntland authorities say the killed Islamists include fighters from
the United States, Britain, Sweden, Morocco, Yemen and Pakistan.

In another development, an explosion caused by a roadside bomb rocked
part of Mogadishu  Sunday.  Witnesses say Ethiopian troops opened fire
after the blast, killing at least one person and wounding two others.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.






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