Friday, May 28, 2010
The remotely controlled roadside bomb went off on the Makka Al Mukarama road in the heart of the Somali government controlled part of the capital where suicide car bomb targeted the senior government officials early in the year.
"The bombs exploded after the vehicle in which the official was travelling passed but it caused minor injuries to some of his bodyguards," said a Somali government official who sought anonymity because he was not allowed to speak with the media about the attack.
The sound of the huge explosion could be heard for miles around the capital where movement is limited during the night.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the latest attack but armed opposition Islamist insurgent group of Al Shabaab often carries out similar attack against Somali government officials and members of the African Union peacekeepers based in Mogadishu.
The movement, which carried out similar high profile attacks on Somali government officials and AU peacekeepers, took responsibility for the suicide attack against the same government official in mid February.
Several senior Somali government officials have died as a result of such attacks by the radical group which wants to unseat the government and establish an Islamic State in the Horn of African country.
The Al Shabaab movement, considered a terrorist entity, wages almost daily attacks on targets of Somali government and AU troops in Mogadishu, including roadside bombs and suicide explosions.
The group controls much of the south and center of the war-torn country while the internationally recognized Somali government runs only parts of the capital Mogadishu under the protection of the 5,000 AU peacekeeping forces.
Source: Xinhua