Somalia insurgants behind suicide bombing

Published on Wednesday 9th April 2008

Somalia, Apr 9: The military wing of Somalia's Islamic Courts Union has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing Tuesday that caused injuries to numerous people.

 

Shebab, the military wing of Somalia's Islamic Courts Union which briefly controlled large parts of Somalia but whose political leadership was ousted by Ethiopian troops last year, said it was behind the attack outside an African Union military camp in Mogadishu. "It was a pick-up truck full of explosives and the attack was carried out by one of our mujahedeen (fighters)," top Shebab spokesman Mukhtar Robbow told journalist. "It was a suicide car bomb targeting the African Union peacekeepers, AFP report said. The attack - one of the most serious against the African Union force to date - targeted a base housing mainly Burundian peacekeepers, officials and a witness said. "The car attempted to smash through the gate ... but it exploded before and there are many casualties, including AU peacekeepers," a Burundian officer from the African Union force told AFP. The spokesman for AMISOM - the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia - also said the blast had caused casualties but couldn't immediately provide further details. "We got information that there was an incident in the Burundi camp and there are casualties. I do not have details," Bahuko Baridgye told AFP. One eyewitness counted at least nine wounded. "I saw seven civilians and two Burundian soldiers wounded near the gate. It was a pick-up truck that exploded near the gate," Abdulkadir Ali Isaak said.