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Al Shabaab gunmen and a suicide car bomb attack hit a religious center in central Somalia on Monday, killing a cleric and at least nine of his followers, a police officer said.
"The militants killed 10 people, including the cleric, teenagers and women who lived inside the camp," police chief Abdirahman Abdullahi told Reuters by telephone in the central city of Galkayo. .
"The fighting between the security forces and Al Shabaab is still going on in the center, the balance could increase," he added.
Al Shabaab, an Islamist group fighting to overthrow the Somali government, told Reuters that he was responsible for the attack.
"A car bomb hit the center of the man who insulted the prophet. Our militants are now inside and the fighting is continuing, "Al Shabaab spokesman Abdiasis Abu Musab told Reuters.
Residents of Galkayo and a regional official said that Abdiweli may also have been targeted as his center mainly hosts young people who play music and dance.
Al Shabaab said last year that the cleric had been portrayed as the prophet, a charge denied by Abdiweli at the time.
"We can not know the number of victims for the moment. Al Shabaab had threatened him several times, "Abdirashid Hashi, governor of the Mudug region, told Reuters.
Al-Shabaab is fighting to establish its own government on the basis of its harsh interpretation of Islamic law. The group controls small sections of the Mudug area, but does not include Galkayo.
"Galkayo's north has been very peaceful and the question is how car-armed terrorists entered the city," police captain Nur Mohamed told Reuters of Galkayo.
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