News / Somalia

Al-Shabab car bombing hits EU convoy in Somalia

Monday, 01 October 2018 11:38 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 01 October 2018 11:41 AM ]

This file photo shows an armored vehicle belonging to the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) exiting the Mogadishu Stadium, on August 28, 2018. (By AFP)

A European Union armored convoy has bit hit in a bomb attack by al-Shabab militants in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu.

Reports said the assailant on Monday rammed an explosive-laden car into the rear end of the armored vehicle with Italian and EU flags.

Police said one vehicle was damaged in the Monday attack, adding that there were no casualties.

“We targeted officers of EU forces with (a) suicide car bomb,” Abdiasis Abu Musab, al-Shabab’s spokesman, told Reuters. “We shall give details of casualties later.”

The al-Qaeda-linked militant outfit, which has long sought to topple Somalia’s Western-backed federal government, was forced out of Mogadishu by African Union forces in 2011.

However, the terrorist group still wields control in large parts of the countryside, and every now and then carries out attacks against government, military, and civilian targets in the capital as well as regional towns.

The EU has a “training mission” in Somalia and funds the African Union’s mission (AMISOM) in the country.

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