A car bomb targeting a bulletproof vehicle carrying diplomats from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has killed at least 12 people, including four Somali soldiers, in Mogadishu. Local officials said that the Emiratis were unharmed. In a statement to Al Jazeera, the armed group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for Wednesday's attack in Mogadishu. "We targeted a vehicle carrying the enemies of Somalia," Abdulaziz Abu Muscab said. Muscab later told the Reuters new agency that the attack targeted UAE nationals. They were military trainers, Hussein Afrah, a Somali military officer, told Reuters, confirming the intended targets were n"ot hurt. The explosion happened near a defence ministry hospital and heavy gunfire was heard soon afterwards. 'Utterly cruel' Witnesses described chaotic scenes as civilians fled through nearby alleys while soldiers fired in the air to prevent a crowd from gathering. Civilians carried victims to nearby hospitals. Can Somalia's embattled president unite his country against al-Shabab? "The explosion was very heavy and it destroyed the pick-up truck," said Hassan Bile, an eyewitness. Nick Kay, the United Nations envoy to Somalia, condemned the "utterly cruel" attack, saying he had spoken to the UAE ambassador, Mohamed Al Osmani, who was not harmed in the explosion.
A car bomb targeting a bulletproof vehicle carrying diplomats
from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has killed at least 12 people,
including four Somali soldiers, in Mogadishu.Local officials said
that the Emiratis were unharmed.In a statement to Al Jazeera, the
armed group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for Wednesday's attack
in Mogadishu."We targeted a vehicle carrying the enemies of
Somalia," Abdulaziz Abu Muscab said.Muscab later told the Reuters
new agency that the attack targeted UAE nationals. They were
military trainers, Hussein Afrah, a Somali military officer, told
Reuters, confirming the intended targets were n"ot hurt.The
explosion happened near a defence ministry hospital and heavy
gunfire was heard soon afterwards.'Utterly cruel'Witnesses
described chaotic scenes as civilians fled through nearby alleys
while soldiers fired in the air to prevent a crowd from gathering.
Civilians carried victims to nearby hospitals.
Can Somalia's embattled president unite his country against
al-Shabab?
"The explosion was very heavy and it destroyed the pick-up
truck," said Hassan Bile, an eyewitness.Nick Kay, the United
Nations envoy to Somalia, condemned the "utterly cruel" attack,
saying he had spoken to the UAE ambassador, Mohamed Al Osmani, who
was not harmed in the explosion.Al-Shabab has vowed to step up
attacks against the government of Somalia during the month of
Ramadan.Since the start of Ramadan, there have been at least 10
assassinations in the capital targeting government
officials.Somalia has been wracked by instability since the
collapse of Siad Barre's hardline regime in 1991.The current
government is being supported by a 22,000-strong African Union
force that includes troops from Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya
and Uganda.The UAE is involved in a number of security,
infrastructure, development and humanitarian projects in
Somalia.
