Somali authorities say two bombings targeting officials Wednesday have killed at least 15 people in the town of Mahas in central Hiran region, about 300 kilometers north of the capital, Mogadishu.
Mumin Mohamed Halane, the mayor of the town, said on state-run television that the attacks consisted of two car bomb blasts targeting his house and the residence of a member of the federal parliament, Mahamed Abukar Jacfar.
Islamist militant group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attacks, which it said targeted the main government base in Mahas.
Local residents who talked to VOA by phone described the attack as "one of biggest explosions" they have ever heard.
The attack triggered condemnation from local and national government officials.
Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimu, a member of the federal parliament elected from the region, told VOA by phone that the attack Wednesday shows that the "enemy," meaning al-Shabab militants, has given up and is reduced to carrying out only bomb attacks.
He said al-Shabab's main purpose of the attacks is to undermine the progress that has been made in the ongoing liberation and recent victories.
He called on the public to continue working with the army until al-Shabab is defeated.
Somali government forces, backed by local clan militias, have recently liberated large swathes of territories, mainly in the state of Hirshabelle, from the Islamist group. Al-Shabab has battled the government and African Union peacekeepers in Somalia since 2007.
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud declared an "all-out war" against the militants last year.
Al-Shabab has since carried out deadly bombings in the capital, Mogadishu, including a double attack on Somalia's education ministry that killed more than 100 people, mostly civilians.
