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Bombs Kill 30 at Mogadishu Mosque


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Two bomb blasts ripped through a mosque in Somalia's capital Saturday, killing at least 30 people and wounding up to 70 others.

The bombings took place as people gathered for noon prayers in the Abdala Shideye Mosque in Mogadishu's main Bakara Market -- an area controlled by militant Islamist groups al-Shabab and Hizbul Islam.

Witnesses said a high-ranking member of al-Shabab, Fuad Mohamed Qalaf, was inside the mosque at the time of the bombings.

It is not known if Qalaf, also the target of international sanctions, was hurt in the blast. Al-Shabab militants arrived after the explosions and blocked access to the area.

No one claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack. It was the second bomb attack on a mosque in Bakara this week.

A land mine explosion near a different mosque Tuesday killed one person.

The al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab and other Islamic insurgent groups control much of Mogadishu along with large parts of southern and central Somalia. The groups are fighting to impose a strict form of sharia, or Islamic law, on the country.

Somalia has not had a stable central government since 1991.

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