TheCable

A suicide car bomb, reportedly aimed at the African Union troop, has killed 12 people in Somalia.

Adukadir Mohamed Sidi, a local governor said “a car laden with explosives was rammed into an AU convoy travelling south-west of the capital, Mogadishu”.

This would be the first attack since the Islamist militant group, Al shabab, vowed to avenge the death of its leader, Ahmed Abdi Godane.

Godane was killed in a US air strike, and has been succeeded by Ahmed Omar.

The attack took place on the road between Mogadishu and Afgoye town, about 30km from the capital.

“The car packed with explosives hit one of the armoured trucks,” Mr Sidi told the Agence France-Presse news agency.

“Twelve civilians in a minibus were killed, and 27 others were wounded.”

AFP also said witnesses reported a huge blast and wave of fire, with civilians on the busy highway between the town and the capital caught up in the explosion.

“I saw two minibuses with pools of blood. Many civilians were killed. The explosion was enormous,” it quoted a witness, Ali Muhidin, as saying.

Al Shabaab subsequently claimed responsibility for the two car bombs.

“We are behind the two car bombs driven by mujahideen (fighters),” Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, spokesman for al Shabaab’s military operations, said.