Many of the wounded at Baidoa's main hospital had horrific injuries, nurse Mohamed Isaq told the AP. Baidoa is a key economic center about 250 kilometers (155 miles) west of the capital, Mogadishu, and about the same distance east of the Ethiopian border. Al-Shabab, which controlled Baidoa between 2009 and 2012 before being driven out by Ethiopian-backed government forces, still holds parts of southern and central Somalia. Attention in recent days has turned to Baidoa, the interim capital of South West state, as high-level al-Shabab defector Mukhtar Robow seeks the regional presidency in November. Among the candidates is Somalia's former intelligence chief Hussein Osman, who has just resigned.

Source: Ethiopian News October 13, 2018 16:30 UTC