Bari (Somalia) - The so- called Islamic state claimed responsibility hours after a suicide bomber attacked a military checkpoint in the coastal town of Bossaso, killing at least 5 people, two of them are soldiers, and injuring 12 others, Anadolu Agency reported. The explosion rocked the area near the checkpoint, policeman Mohamed Ali told Anadolu Agency. Islamic State (ISIS) claimed the responsibility for the attack and even boasted that the group carried out its first suicide bombing in Somalia. Although suicide bombings are common in the capital of Mogadishu, they are relatively rare in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, where the security forces are relatively regularly paid and receive substantial U.S. assistance. "The bomber seemed suspicious as he walked and when he was ordered to stop, he blew himself up," said Yusuf Mohamed, governor of Bari region in Puntland. The al Qaeda-linked Somali Islamist insurgency, Al-Shabaab, which claims responsibility for most attacks, told Reuters they were not behind the bombing. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the attack. Somalia has been ravaged by civil war since 1991 when clan-based warlords overthrew a dictator and then turned on each other.
