Three killed in roadside blasts in Somalia’s capital

MOGADISHU, Somalia - At least 3 people were killed and several, including a local government official wounded when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Somalia's capital on Saturday, Garowe Online reports.

Abdinasir Hassan Ali, the deputy commissioner of Kahda district sustained life-threatening wounds in a remote-controlled landmine blast struck his car at Hoosh junction near a local market in Dharkenley.

“Kahda deputy DC was injured in IED explosion targeted his vehicle at Hoosh area early in the morning. Three of his security guards were killed in the attack that damaged his car," said an eyewitness.

Police cordoned off the area around the bomb scene as the ambulance crews quickly transferred the wounded from the site to nearby hospital for treatment, according to multiple sources in the city.

Elsewhere in the capital, local media reported an IED explosion ripped through a military convoy carrying African Union peacekeepers in the vicinity of Ex-control Bal’ad, just few minutes after the first bombing.

The attack resulted in casualties, but, the number has not yet been verified.

The Qaeda allied militant group, Al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for the IED explosions through a statement posted on its affiliated media outlets. The group frequently stages such attacks in the capital.

Al-Shabaab, which has been driven out of Mogadishu in late 2011, is fighting for a decade to topple the weak UN-backed Somali Federal Government, propped up by a 22,000 strong AU troops since 2007.

Somalia and AU forces with the air support of US military intensified offensives into territory controlled by Al-Shabaab after driving the militants out of key areas located in the outskirts of the capital last year.

GAROWE ONLINE