Seven killed in car bomb targeting Somali officials

Published on 19/03/2013 00:00

AT LEAST seven people died ­yesterday and more were hurt after an explosives-laden vehicle hit a car and exploded, ­setting a nearby minibus on fire, in central Mogadishu. It is thought the intended target was a truck which was carrying Somali ­government officials.

Flames and smoke rose over the explosion site as emergency services arrived. The blast happened close to the Somali government headquarters.

Mohamed Abdi, a police officer who was injured in the blast, said it appeared that the target of the attack was a truck carrying Somali intelligence officials.

And Abdi Mohamud Aden, a Somali police captain, said at least seven people had been killed and ten wounded. He added that the number of dead could rise.

A journalist who was wounded while sitting in a nearby restaurant said several other people inside the restaurant were injured in the blast.

No-one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. However, the Islamic extremist group al-Shabaab has carried out terrorist attacks in Somalia’s capital since being pushed out of Mogadishu, which it had previously controlled, in late 2011.

Inside Mogadishu’s Daru Shifa hospital, a wounded soldier cried out for aid as blood gushed from his badly wounded right leg. “I was trying to cross the street when the blast went off,” he said. “Terrorists want to ­deprive us of peace.”