(Adds quotes, details) By Sahra Abdi Ahmed KISMAYU, Somalia, Feb 11 (Reuters) - An explosion wounded at least 20 people at a ceremony in Somalia on Sunday to welcome senior military commanders to the southern port of Kismayu, witnesses said. "There was a blast and people started running for their lives, all shouting 'bomb!, bomb!'," said one onlooker, Mohamed Daud. "Police started firing in all directions...Most of the wounded are civilians, and I heard two people were killed." A Reuters witness at Kismayu's Independence Gardens said southern Somalia's police chief, General Ahmed Mohamed, was injured in the legs and face by shrapnel. Somalia's Defence Minister, Abdikadir Adan Shire, also known as Barre Hiraale, said top military officials and regional leaders had been attending the ceremony. "I understand some of the senior officials are among the wounded," he told Reuters by telephone from Baidoa town. "I also hear people died, but we do not have a full report yet." There have been near-daily mortar, rocket and gun attacks in Somalia since government troops backed by Ethiopian forces ousted an Islamist movement in a two-week war over the New Year.
