Somalia’s Al-Shabab insurgents killed at least six people Wednesday in a suicide attack on a diplomatic convoy from the United Arab Emirates in the Somali capital Mogadishu, police and the Islamists said.
“We targeted enemy delegates from the UAE and we inflicted casualties upon them and their forces,” Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, Shabaab’s military operation spokesman told Reuters.
“The incident took place near the military hospital where UAE trains Somali military. Three Somali military who were on the military pick up died and several other civilians who were passing by were injured,” he added.
“We have confirmed the death of six people, four of them civilians, while six others were also wounded, some seriously,” police officer Abdukadir Hassan told AFP.
He said no UAE diplomats were hurt in the attack, with the Somali security staff escorting them stopping the bomber with their truck as the blast went off.
The Shabab said they carried out the attack, which is believed to be the first time the al-Qaeda affiliate has targeted the UAE in Somalia. The UAE is involved in a number of security, infrastructure, development and humanitarian projects in Somalia.
In the past, al Shabaab has exaggerated the number of government members it has killed, while officials have played down losses.
