• Sunday, 22 December 2024

At least five killed in car bomb explosion in Somalia

At least five killed in car bomb explosion in Somalia
At least five people were killed in a car bomb explosion in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Thursday. According to the police, the bomber also died in the blast. More than 10 people were injured, some of them seriously, mostly students from a nearby school, according police. "So far, we know that five citizens have lost their lives as a result of this terrorist attack," senior Somali police officer Ali Hassan told dpa. The target of the attack was a military convoy of an African Union (AU) peacekeeping mission. According to eyewitnesses, the car bomb brought down the school building in the neighbourhood. "It was terrible to see our school building is completely collapsed. Several of our students are harmed and others are in shock," Ahmed Ali, a school teacher, told dpa. Al-Qaeda linked fundamentalist group al-Shabaab claimed the attack via their affiliated outlet Radio Andalus. The group did not say how many peacekeepers were killed, while AU officials did not comment. Al-Shabaab has been fighting for dominance in the country on the Horn of Africa for years, controlling large parts of the south and the centre and repeatedly carrying out attacks on security forces and civilians.