Mogadishu: A governor in Somalia's Puntland was seriously wounded on Sunday in a suicide bomb attack, witnesses said, in an attack claimed by the al-Shabaab jihadist group.
The attack on Abdisalan Hassan Hersi, governor of the Nugaal region, happened in Puntland capital Garowe, said officials.
A former police commander and a civilian were also wounded in the blast, and all three were being treated in hospital, Puntland's interior minister, Mohamed Abdirahman, told reporters.
Witnesses said the attacker ran at the vehicle in which he was travelling before detonating his explosive vest.
"The governor and the former police commander were wounded seriously in the blast, the police sealed off the area after the blast", one witness, Adan Suleyman, said.
Abdikarim Ahmed, another witness, said the bomber ran on to the vehicle of the governor as he was parking near a police station before detonating his device.
The jihadist Shabaab group claimed responsibility in a statement.
The al-Qaeda affiliated group was driven out of Mogadishu in 2011 and lost most of their strongholds, but still control vast swathes of the countryside. They have vowed to overthrow the internationally backed Somali government and have carried out any attacks in the Somali capital.
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