A foreign security officer inspects wreckage at the scene of a suicide car bomb attack that targeted a United Nations convoy, outside the airport in Mogadishu, Somalia Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014. A Somali police officer says a suicide bomber rammed ... more >
Bomb blast hits UN convoy in Mogadishu; 3 deadABDI GULED, Associated Press Abdi Guled
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - A suicide bomber rammed his vehicle into a U.N. convoy near Mogadishu's airport on Wednesday, killing three people, Somali police said.
No U.N. staff were killed or injured but the attack damaged two U.N. vehicles traveling in a four-vehicle convoy, said U.N. spokesman Aleem Siddique.
'The car bomb hit near the front gate of the Mogadishu airport. Several people, including an army officer, (were) killed after he tried to stop the vehicle,' said police spokesman Kasim Ahmed Roble.
Soldiers fired at pedestrians after the blast, said Yusuf Haji, a resident in the area.
Somalia's president entered the protected airport area just before the blast and a Qatari government convoy passed by the blast site shortly before the explosion, said an international official inside the airport complex, who insisted on anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the press.
The Islamic militant group al-Shabab frequently carries out suicide blasts and gunfire attacks in Mogadishu. The group has also claimed responsibility for two deadly attacks against Kenyan civilians near the Kenya-Somali border over the last two weeks.
Entities 0 Name: Mogadishu Count: 5 1 Name: UN Count: 5 2 Name: Somalia Count: 3 3 Name: ABDI GULED Count: 1 4 Name: Kasim Ahmed Roble Count: 1 5 Name: Yusuf Haji Count: 1 6 Name: Associated Press Abdi Guled MOGADISHU Count: 1 7 Name: AP Count: 1 8 Name: Aleem Siddique Count: 1 9 Name: Islamic Count: 1 10 Name: Somali Count: 1 11 Name: al-Shabab Count: 1 12 Name: United Nations Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/12kCbc6 Title: Al-Shabab gunmen kill 36 Kenyans in quarry ambush as they slept Description: Editor's note: Some may find the imagery below to be disturbing. At least 36 quarry workers were killed early Tuesday in northern Kenya in an attack carried out by al-Shabab. The killings happened in Mandera County near the border with Somalia and the attackers escaped, said Kenyan police chief David Kimaiyo.