Somalia: Governor of Bay region escaped suicide bombing; 3 dead, 5 injured

The governor of the Bay region in Somalia had a near-death experience as he escaped a suicide bombing that took lives of two of his bodyguards and one other person.

Ali Wardhere Dooyow is the governor of the Bay region who was targeted in a suicide bombing that took three lives and injured five others.

The incident took place outside a hotel in Baidoa, the capital of Somalia’s Bay region.

"Ali Wardhere Dooyow, the governor of Bay region, was the target. The governor was not hurt, but two of his guards and one more person have died," Mohamud Adan Ibrahim, a police officer in Baidoa, told Anadolu Agency.

The five injured have been reported to be civilians who were taken to hospitals for treatment, an official reported.

"It was a horrible incident which shocked us, I was sitting in a shop not far away … and I rushed to see what happened," a witness told AFP news agency. "I saw bodies of people shattered amid the blast."

Al-Qaeda linked armed group, Al-Shabab, has claimed responsibility for the attack on the governor.