A suicide car bomber targeting a UN Convoy killed six people in Mogadishu, injuring at least 19 people on Thursday, officials and witnesses said.
The bomber detonated his explosives-laden vehicle as the convoy was passing near the Capital Airport which is heavily guarded by the Somali forces and AMISOM peacekeepers.
The blast ripped through the convoy of at least an armored car. The explosion also shredded nearby storefronts and killed at least three passersby, witnesses said.
Al-Qaeda-linked militant group al-Shabab claimed the responsibility for the attack, saying that it killed foreign workers and Soldiers.
In a Press statement from the UN envoy to Somalia Nicklas Kay, he said no U.N Staff or official was hurt in the explosion.
‘’A vehicle exploded close to a convoy of UN vehicles about 12.30 today near the international airport in Mogadishu. The UN in Somalia strongly condemns the attack and expresses deep sorrow at the reported deaths and injuries of Somali bystanders. A UN car was damaged but no UN staff were injured . Four security escorts were lightly injured,’’ he said in the Press Statement.
Several other senior diplomats strongly condemned the attack.
The attack comes after an overnight mortar shells rocked the city, which al-Shabab claimed too the responsibility. It’s the second week the city is facing mortar attacks which are mostly shelled in Northern areas.
Ayub Abdirahman
Horseed Media
