At least three people were killed on Wednesday after a car bomb targeting a United Nations convoy exploded near the airport in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu.
“The car bomb hit near the front gate of the Mogadishu airport. Several people, including an army officer, (were) killed after he tried to stop the vehicle,” said Kasim Ahmed Roble, a police spokesman.
None of the victims were UN staff members, but the attack damaged two vehicles in the convoy, according to UN spokesman Aleem Siddique.
Shortly after the explosion, the Somali Islamist militant group al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack.
“Our Mujahideen (fighters) based in Mogadishu have today targeted a convoy of foreign mercenaries and their apostate allies nearby the airport,” Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab’s military operations spokesman, said.
The airport has a tight security cordon and blast walls, and is used as a base for UN operations in Somalia. The airport area is also home to the British and Italian embassies.
The al Qaeda-linked group, which wants to impose its strict interpretation of Islamic law on Somalia, has launched a string of bomb and gun attacks in Mogadishu and other centres.
It has also escalated operations in neighbouring Kenya, where militants massacred 36 non-Muslim workers on Tuesday at a quarry on the border.
The group vowed to step up attacks after African Union and Somali troops launched an offensive this year that has driven the group from major strongholds, including its last major coastal base of Barawe in October.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, REUTERS)
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