Bomb Blast Kills at Least 15 Women in Somalia

Aug 4th 2008(Medeshi)
The explosion of a large bomb buried in a pile of garbage killed a group of women who were part of a U.N.-sponsored work program, which paid them for cleaning the streets of the capital.Since this feed article is very short, here's an excerpt from its web site:
NAIROBI, Kenya — More than 15 women cleaning the streets of Mogadishu, Somalia , were killed Sunday by a large bomb buried in a pile of garbage, witnesses and hospital officials said.Mogadishu, the country’s bullet-pocked capital, has seen more than its share of carnage lately as Islamist insurgents wage an intense urban battle against government and Ethiopian forces.
But witnesses described an especially grisly and panicked scene on Sunday after a street sweeper accidentally tripped a large roadside bomb.“There was flesh and blood all over the ground,” said Halima Abdow, whose elder sister, Fatima, was killed by the bomb.
Ms. Abdow described dozens of people lying in pools of blood, passers-by shrieking for help and children screaming for their mothers....
The women were part of a United Nations -sponsored food-for-work program, which paid them in sacks of sorghum to clean up Mogadishu’s gritty streets. The road where they were working is a main route for Somali and Ethiopian troops, who are backing up Somalia’s weak transitional government.
Although Islamist insurgents have claimed responsibility for roadside bombs in the past, no group has come forward on this explosion, which may have been intended for another target.Somalia remains at the brink of a famine, which was made more likely by aid agencies’ cutting back on operations because at least 20 aid workers have been killed this year.Peace still looks far away. A cease-fire agreement signed in June between the government and an Islamist faction has not diminished the fighting, which seems to kill mostly civilians.