Somalia

An EU Naval Force statement said the operation had finally made contact with the ship's master, who confirmed that armed men were aboard the Comoros-flagged tanker Aris 13.

Monday's hijacking was the first such seizure of a large commercial vessel off Somalia since 2012. It came as a surprise to the global shipping industry as patrols by the navies of Nato countries, as well as China, India and Iran, had suppressed Somali pirate hijackings for several years.

The blast by a car bomb parked near a restaurant went off at a busy time when shoppers and traders were gathered inside the market, said district commissioner Ahmed Abdulle.

Many of the dead were carried away by their relatives soon after the blast, said Captain Mohamed Hussein.

At least 32 people have died in Somalia after drinking water from a well that was believed to have been poisoned, officials said on Monday.

More than 10 other people were hospitalised after drinking the water in Masuubiye near the south-western city of Baidoa, regional senior official Hassan Hussein Elay said.

Elay accused the militant Islamist group al-Shabaab of poisoning the well.

"Al-Shabaab poisoned the waterhole to prevent government soldiers from drinking water there," he said, without providing details.