Twenty-seven individuals, mostly children, lost their lives while 53 others were wounded in southern Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region following a mortar shell explosion near Qoryoley on Friday, according to the state news agency. As indicated by Abdi Ahmed, deputy district commissioner of Qoryoley, the children were playing with an unexploded mortar shell that blew up on them. He added that the local population urged the government and aid groups to clear the area of mines and shells, which is rampant throughout the country due to warring factions firing weapons in the area.
Meanwhile, in Mogadishu, the Al Shabab extremist group has claimed responsibility for an attack on the Pearl Beach hotel, situated by the beach, with no reports of fatalities as of Friday night. The attack was battled by security personnel overnight.
