Suicide bomb attack
Al-Shabaab car bomb kills at least six in central Mogadishu
At least six people had been killed, including soldiers, civilians and the suicide bomber, and a dozen injured, according to police officer Mohamed Hussein.
The dead included a military commander and two colonels, the town’s mayor, Hirsi Yusuf Barre, said.
The girl of 12 or 13-years-old arrived at the Sanda-Wadjiri mosque in remote Kolofata at the first call to prayer at between five and six in the morning.
The al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab group said it was behind the attack.
Another US official said the target of the bomb plot appeared to have been a commercial flight from Sydney to the Gulf.
More than 1,700 civilians have been killed in attacks in Afghanistan so far this year, hitting confidence in the Western-backed government.
The attack in the town of Dikwa in Borno state came days after suspected members of the group kidnapped an oil prospecting team.
The Borno State Police Commissioner Damian Chukwu said most of the victims were operatives of the Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF).
The raids were part of a major security sweep by the army in an area that has been a flashpoint for violent spillover from the Syria crisis.
A number of suicide bomb attacks by suspected members of the jihadist group have taken place in the capital of Borno state.
Lucas Papademos, who served a brief stint as caretaker prime minister in late 2011 to mid-2012, did not have life-threatening injuries, authorities said.
A military media unit run by Damascus ally Hezbollah said a suicide attacker had detonated a car bomb near the convoy.
State-run SANA news agency said there were several casualties; no further details were immediately available.
Most of the dead in Saturday's attack were Iraqi Shi'ites who were going to visit a cemetery near the Old City of Damascus.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Saturday's attack, which is said to had been carried out by 2 suicide bombers.
A spokesman for medical charity Edhi said around 30 children accompanying their mothers were dead.