MOGADISHU, May 9, 2018 (News Wires) - An explosion killed at least five people and wounded 10 on Wednesday in a market for the stimulant leaf khat in southern Somalia, police and residents said, and al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab said it was behind the blast. The blast occurred in the busy market in the town of Wanlaweyn in the Lower Shabelle region, about 90 km (55 miles) to the northwest of the coastal capital Mogadishu. Given Wanlaweyn's lack of hospitals able to take in multiple casualties, residents said they took many of the wounded to their homes for the time being after the afternoon blast near a busy cluster of khat kiosks. Police said they were investigating whether the explosion was caused by a planted bomb or by a suicide bomber.
