About 27 dead, mostly children, when mortar shells explode in Somalia

A mortar shell explosion near Qoryoley, a town in the Lower Shabelle region of southern Somalia, killed about 27 people, mostly children, and injured 53 on Friday, according to the state news agency.

Children “played with a mortar shell that didn’t go off. It exploded on them,” said Abdi Ahmed, deputy district commissioner of Qoryoley, a town of about 60,000 people south of the country’s capital, Mogadishu.

“We are asking the government and aid organizations to remove mines and shells from the area,” added Mr. Ahmed please.

Residents said the unexploded grenades were used by the warring factions in Somalia.

A beachfront hotel was attacked in Mogadishu on Friday, with the extremist group Al Shabab claiming responsibility, according to The Associated Press. There were no fatalities in the attack on the Pearl Beach hotel on Friday night as security forces continued to battle the militants overnight.