MOGADISHU, Somalia, April 4 (UPI) -- A blast at the National Theater in Mogadishu Wednesday killed at least 10 people, including Somalia's Olympic committee and football heads, officials said.
Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali also was at the theater when the attacker struck, but told the BBC he wasn't hurt.
Aden Yabarow Wiish, Somali Olympic Committee president, and Said Mohamed Nur, president of the country's soccer federation, were among the victims, officials said.
Al-Shabaab militants claimed responsibility for the bombing.
Several witnesses told the BBC that many high-profile people were at the theater to celebrate the anniversary of the launch of Somalia's national television station.
Three Somali broadcast journalists were wounded in the explosion, the British broadcaster said.
The theater reopened last month after it was closed in the early 1990s as the country slid into civil war.
Al-Shabaab followers, who had controlled large parts of the country, were driven from the capital city by African Union troops last year, but the militants still attack the city with bombs and mortars.
Since al-Shabaab was driven out, Mogadishu had experienced relative calm and seen a resumption of sports and entertainment activities, including the re-opening of the National Theater.
