Al Shabaab car bomb kills four Somalis in U.N. convoy
Wed Dec 3, 2014 1:32pm GMT
* U.N. staff unharmed in blast near international airport
* Al Shabaab says it carried out attack to kill foreigners
* Shows threat from insurgents despite loss of territory (Adds al Shabaab
claim of responsibility, update on airport)
By Feisal Omar
MOGADISHU, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Four Somalis were killed when a car bomb hit a
United Nations convoy near the capital's international airport on Wednesday,
showing the threat still posed by insurgents despite their recent loss of
territory.
Al Qaeda-aligned Somali Islamist group al Shabaab claimed responsibility.
The group, which wants to topple the Western-backed Mogadishu government and
impose its version of Islamic law, damaged a U.N. vehicle but did not kill
any U.N. staff, a spokesman for the U.N.'s Somalia mission, Aleem Siddique,
said.
Somali police said four Somalis were killed in the explosion, including a
policeman and two bodyguards working for a contractor. Thirteen other people
were wounded.
Attacks have intensified in recent weeks, showing the threat still posed by
al Shabaab after African peacekeepers pushed them out of the capital in
2011. Officials say the Islamists still control tracts of countryside and
settlements from where they have launched their guerrilla-style campaign.
The militants have in the past used car bombs against the U.N., African
Union troops and other international delegations.
Al Shabaab's spokesman for military operations, Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab
said in a statement the bomb had "targeted a convoy of foreign mercenaries
and their apostate allies".
Security around the airport was increased after the attack but airport
operations and its flight schedule were unaffected, the prime minister's
communications team said on Twitter.
The airport has a tight security cordon and blast walls, and is used as a
base for U.N. operations in Somalia. The airport area also houses the
British and Italian embassies.
International delegations visiting Mogadishu frequently travel with local
security firms which place pick-up trucks at the front and back of a convoy,
each with about 10 security men armed with AK-47 rifles.
Also on Wednesday, in neighbouring Kenya, a court charged 13 people with
being members of al Shabaab after they were arrested during police raids in
mosques in the port city of Mombasa.
Al Shabaab said it killed 28 people outside Mandera, a town in the far
northeast near the Somali and Ethiopian borders, in retaliation for the
raids on the mosques.
The group also said it was responsible for killing 36 non-Muslim workers at
a quarry on the outskirts of Mandera on Tuesday as part of its efforts to
force Kenya to pull its troops out of Somalia.
Unions have urged thousands of non-Muslim Kenyan teachers, doctors and
nurses living in the northern regions to return home because of the security
risks. (Writing by Drazen Jorgic; Editing James Macharia and Louise Ireland)