18 September 2006
MOGADISHU, Somalia (CNN) -- A car bomb targeting Somalia's transitional president, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, killed eight people Monday outside Somalia's parliament in Baidoa, according to presidential and hospital sources.
Ahmed was inside the parliament building when the car bomb detonated in a nearby compound. He was not harmed.
The explosion wounded dozens and destroyed eight cars.
Baidoa is the temporary seat of the United Nations-backed transitional government, which wields little power. Somalia's last functioning government collapsed in 1991.
In early June, the Islamic Courts Union militia wrested control of Mogadishu from a U.S.-backed coalition of secular warlords.The U.S. State Department has expressed concern over reports in recent months that militias were advancing toward Baidoa.
In late July, gunmen shot and killed a minister in the interim government as he left a mosque in Baidoa. It is unclear who was behind the killing.
Journalist Mohammed Amiin contributed to this report.
