Grenade attack kills four in Baidoa

At least four people were killed and 18 others were injured after a grenade was lobbed into a busy business centre in the south-western Somali town of Baidoa, officials said on Monday.

Police officials said a government soldier had been arrested in connection with the blast and investigations were underway. No details of the suspects were given.

Security officials told HOL that they cannot at the moment figure out the motive of the soldier who threw the grenade, but were not ruling out that the attack occurred as the result of heated arguments.

Witnesses described chaotic scenes as soldiers opened fire at a nearby crowd after the blast.

However, one security sources told SR that the soldier behind the grenade attack was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the attack.

Such attacks by soldiers are common in the town which serves as the headquarters of the South-western State. The Al-Qaeda linked militants often carry out bomb attacks across Somalia.

Baidoa ,located 256km west of the Somali capital, has seen a relative stability since Somali troops backed by Ethiopian troops ousted Al-Shabab fighters from the town which has been the base of the Somali parliament since 2008.