<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>Twenty-two people, including two children, died in southern Somalia when mortar shells exploded, a local district official said on Friday.</b></span><br></div><div><br></div><div>Abdi Ahmed Ali told a press conference that a blast "caused by unexploded mortar shells" occurred near the town of Qoryoley, around 120 kilometres (75 miles) south of the capital, Mogadishu.</div><div><br></div><div>He requested help from the authorities to clear unexploded ordnance he said was scattered across the region in order to avoid further disasters.</div><div><br></div><div>Qoryoley resident Ibrahim Hassan told AFP most of the victims were "young children" who "died on the spot after one of them struck an explosive device near a playground".</div><div><br></div><div>The region is a target of Islamist rebel group Al-Shabaab, which has waged an insurgency against the internationally backed Somali federal government since 2007.</div><div><br></div><div>Last month, the group affiliated with Al-Qaeda killed 54 Ugandan peacekeepers in an attack on an African Union base in Bulo Marer, a town around 30 kilometres from Qoryoley.</div><div><br></div><div>The movement has been driven out of Somalia's main towns and cities but retains power in large swathes of rural areas, carrying out attacks against security and civilian targets. - AFP&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>