Bomb blast outside Somali capital kills 2 civilians

By Mohammed Dhaysane

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) - At least two civilians were killed and several security personnel wounded on the outskirts of the Somali capital Mogadishu on Monday when a roadside bomb hit a convoy carrying the Mogadishu police chief, a spokesman said.

The attack took place on the busy highway linking Mogadishu and Afgoye, a town located 30 kilometers (18 miles) southwest of the capital.

Somali police spokesman Abdifatah Adan Hassan told Anadolu Agency over the phone that two civilians were killed in the blast.

"At the time of the explosion, the vehicle carrying Mogadishu Police Chief Farhan Qarole was going too fast and he survived," Hassan said, adding that there were injuries among Qarole's bodyguards.

The explosion occurred as the convoy was returning from the village of Calamada in the lower Shabelle region, according to local media.

Al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group al-Shabaab, which is very active in Somalia, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that it had wounded six bodyguards.