MOGADISHU: A suicide bomber killed 14 people in a popular restaurant in the central Somali town of Beledweyne on the eve of a round of voting there, police said.
The attack was claimed by the Al-Shabaab Islamist militant group, which has been waging an insurgency in the troubled Horn of Africa nation for years.
Security had been tightened in Beledweyne ahead of a first session of voting for parliamentary seats in the constituency, which lies about 340 kilometres (210 miles) north of the capital Mogadishu.