MOGADISHU (SOMALIA) (TIP): A roadside bomb exploded and killed at least 10 people in a minibus in Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region Thursday evening, a local official said.

Five others were injured and the death toll could rise, Nur Abdullahi told The Associated Press.

The massive bomb buried beside the road struck the vehicle near Gobweyn village, he said.

The Somalia-based extremist group al-Shabab claims control over parts of the largely coastal Lower Shabelle region, which has been a focus of efforts to counter the group by a 22,000-strong multinational African Union force.

Civilians often have been casualties in this long-chaotic Horn of Africa country. Now hundreds of thousands of Somalis are on the move as a drought threatens roughly half of the country’s population of 12 million.

New Somali-American President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, who was elected in February, has promised to make security a priority as the weak central government tries to assert itself beyond the capital and some other urban areas. (AP)