MOGADISHU, June 23 (Xinhua) -- A child was killed and six others were seriously injured in a mortar attack on Wednesday in a village in Hodan district, a neighborhood in the Somali capital Mogadishu, eye witnesses and officials have said.
Spokesman for the local government, Abdifitah Omar Halane, confirmed the incident, saying "one child was killed and six others wounded by two mortar shells in Mogadishu last evening."
Omar Farah, a local radio journalist, said his sister-in-law lost her son in the attack and she herself was among those injured.
Farah told Xinhua the incident took place near a military hospital. "There are people mostly children who were injured in the attack," he added.
No-one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but Somalia's Islamist group Al-Shabaab is thought to be behind it as it frequently stages attacks in Mogadishu.
