Suicide attack kills 4 outside Somalian capital

By Mohammed Dhaysane and Ahmet Sertan Usul

MOGADISHU/ANKARA (AA) - At least four people including two Turkish nationals were killed and more than 14 people wounded when a suicide bomber targeted road-construction workers just outside Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Saturday, officials said.

The attack took place in the village of Lafole, 22 kilometers (13 miles) southwest of Mogadishu.

Mohamed Hassan, a police official in the nearby town of Afgoye in Lower Shabelle region, told Anadolu Agency by phone that a suicide bomber blew up near the construction site in Lafole.

“The attack caused by a suicide bomber targeted Afgoye Mogadishu highway construction workers,” Hassan said, adding the wounded were rushed to the Recep Tayyip Erdogan Hospital in Mogadishu for treatment.

Turkey's Foreign Ministry also confirmed the death toll.

Writing on Twitter, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said: "The number of our citizens killed in the terror attack has risen to 2. The treatment for the 14 wounded -- 3 out of them Turkish -- is ongoing at Mogadishu Recep Tayyip Erdogan Hospital."

Stating that the wounded Turkish people are not in critical condition, Koca strongly condemned the attack.

The construction project is funded by the Qatari government and implemented by a Turkish company.

Somali-based al-Qaeda affiliated group al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the attack.