MOGADISHU, Somalia – A Somali lawmaker on Wednesday evening narrowly survived a land mine attack in Mogadishu, the latest in a series of bombings in the country’s seaside capital, Garowe Online reports.

A witness told Garowe Online that the bomb exploded behind a car carrying Abdulkadir Arabow, a member of parliament along the busy Makka Al-Mukarama Street in the city’s downtown, killing at least 3 people.

“The bomb went off immediately the vehicle of the MP was in passed by.  Two bodyguards and a rickshaw driver lost their lives in the IED attack at Hajji Baasto junction," said the witness who did not want to be named.

The legislator escaped unhurt in the attack.

The explosion sent smoke billowing into the sky and destroyed a newly opened restaurant along the road lined with businesses and hotel leading to the presidential palace that was targeted in the past by Al-Shabab.

Al-Shabab claimed immediately the responsibility for the bombing. The legislator escaped unhurt in the attack. 

The Al-Qaeda-linked militant group has in the past targeted the same location and upscale hotels in Mogadishu as part of its decade-long insurgency to oust the weak UN-backed government.

GAROWE ONLINE