10 people were killed and others were wounded in a new bombing that hit Mogadishu, hours after Al-Shabaab militants attacked two army bases (south of the Somali capital).
The Somali police said that a suicide bomber blew himself up this evening in a popular cafe.
Reuters reported the death toll, quoting a spokesman for the Somali Information Ministry, Ismail Mukhtar Omar, who also indicated that there were injured persons.
Omar said the attacker blew himself up under the trees, where mothers sell tea, milk and khat.
For its part, the French Press Agency quoted an eyewitness as saying that the suicide bomber entered a crowded cafe in an area near a police station.
The new bombing in the Somali capital comes in light of a severe political crisis that erupted after the postponement of the presidential elections that were scheduled to take place last February, when a number of regional leaders are calling for President Muhammad Abdullah Farmajo to resign from his post.
Today, a meeting was held in Mogadishu, which included Farmajo and other officials in the federal government and governors of 5 regions, seeking to resolve the crisis.
Effects of a previous attack on an African Union military base in Mogadishu (Reuters)
Attack on two bases
Earlier today, Al-Shabaab militants attacked two military bases in two villages located within the "Lower Shabelle" region, 75 km south of Mogadishu.
The attack began with the detonation of two car bombs at the gates of the two bases, and clashes erupted as a result between the Somali forces and the attackers.
The governor of Lower Shabelle region, Abd al-Qadir Muhammad Nur, said that the army had killed more than 40 al-Shabaab fighters after their attack on the two military bases in the villages of Berri and Udigli.
Nour added that the Somali forces responded to the movement's attack, and that the two bases are still in the hands of the government, stressing that life has returned to normal.
For his part, the commander of the Somali National Army confirmed, in statements to local media, that the attacks were repelled and that the attackers sustained heavy losses, noting that they left behind a number of the bodies of their leaders.
In turn, the Associated Press quoted the commander in the Somali ground forces, Muhammad Bihi, as saying that 9 soldiers were killed and 11 wounded, confirming that the army killed 77 militants of Al-Shabab movement linked to Al-Qaeda during repelling the two attacks.
On the other hand, the spokesman for the youth movement, Abdulaziz Abu Musab, said that they killed 47 soldiers and burned cars, in the double attack on the two bases, noting that the movement's fighters withdrew after they seized ammunition and equipment.
Eyewitnesses confirmed to Al-Jazeera that today's clashes between the two sides were violent.