A hotel with Somali leaders residing inside was bombed in the city of Jowhar on Sunday, Somali sources said.
The perpetrators and their motives are not currently known, but sources say that some of the leaders of the Hiirshabeele authorities were staying at the Nuur Doob hotel.
Jowhar is approximately 90km north of Somalia's capital city of Mogadishu.
The Smoalian-based terrorist group Al-Shabab has taken responsibility for the attack.