Somalia
is divided into three regions: semi-autonomous Somaliland and Puntland
have their own regional governments, while the capital Mogadishu is in
Somalia itself.
Sunday, May 05, 2013
A suicide car bomb targeted an African Union convoy carrying a Qatari delegation in Somalia on Sunday morning, authorities said.
All members of the convoy
were unharmed during the attack in the capital of Mogadishu, said Ahmed
Adan, the Somali prime minister's spokesman.
Adan had said earlier that the interior minister was with the delegation, but the minister's office said he was not.
Radical Islamist militia Al-Shabaab is to blame for the attack, according to Adan.
Separately, the African Union command in Mogadishu said at least seven civilians were killed in the attack.
Al-Shabaab has waged recent attacks in the nation.
Last month, at least 10
heavily armed militants forced their way into a court building in
Mogadishu, a deadly attack that left 29 people dead, diplomatic sources
said.
In that attack, some assailants detonated explosives while others exchanged fire with government security, witnesses said.
At least nine members of Al-Shabaab were also killed, the sources said.
Somali President Hassan
Sheikh Mohamud has called the uptick in strikes "nothing but a sign of
desperation by the terrorists," saying the militants "are in complete
decline."
Somalia's shaky transitional government, backed by African Union peacekeepers, has been battling Islamist guerrillas for years.