Land mine kills three

At least three people were killed and four others injured when the vehicle they were travelling in hit a land mine near the town of Buur Hakaba, 180 km southwest of Mogadishu, on Monday, a Somali source told IRIN. The vehicle, a four-wheel-drive Toyota, which was travelling from Mogadishu to Baidoa, detonated the mine near the village of Daaynuunai, 25 km south of Buur Hakaba. The driver and two passengers were killed instantly, the source said. The victims were all businessmen, who were taking cigarette samples to Baidoa. The injured had been evacuated to Mogadishu hospitals, he added. The incident occurred on the main Mogadishu-Baidoa road, in an area controlled by the Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA). The RRA controls the Bay and Bakol regions of south-central Somalia, and is opposed to the Transitional National Government (TNG). According to the source, no one knows who laid the mine, but locals have reportedly identified the parts of the road they suspect to be mined. Mine incidents on this road have increased in the last months due to tension between the RRA and the TNG, Somali sources told IRIN.