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Al-Shabab Claims Bomb Attack on Somali Police Station

by Reuters

   MOGADISHU --

   A bomb planted in a police station killed at least one policeman in
   Somalia's southern port city of Kismayu on Monday, and militant
   Islamist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility.

   "A policeman died and several others were injured after a bomb blast.
   We are investigating the cause of the blast," Hassan Nur, a policeman,
   told Reuters by phone.

   Al-Shabab said the toll was higher. "We planted a bomb inside a police
   station in Kismayu. We killed four policemen and
   wounded 27 others," its military operations spokesman Abdiasis
   Abu Musab said.

   Al-Shabab lost control of Kismayu in 2012, depriving it of a key source
   of funds. It had ruled most of south-central Somalia until 2011, when
   it was driven out of the capital Mogadishu by African Union troops.

   Despite the loss of territory, al-Shabab still carries out major gun
   and bomb attacks, and often claims casualty numbers that conflict with
   those given by government officials.