Five police wounded in Somali bombing

Members of the public and firefighters move the shell of a damaged vehicle after an explosion near the main market in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu yesterday.Reuters/MogadishuFive policemen were wounded when their vehicle was blown up in the Somali capital Mogadishu yesterday, a police officer said, in an attack claimed by the Islamist militant group Al Shebaab.Police official Abdikadir Mohamud, who was in the area, said it was not clear whether the bomb was planted in the vehicle in the Bakara market or hurled at it.Gunfire heard after the blast was from security forces, Mohamud said. “Fire was opened in the air to disperse the converging crowds to minimise casualties,” he said, adding that no civilians were hurt.Somalia is attempting to rebuild after two decades of civil war and lawlessness, backed by international aid aimed at preventing it from becoming a haven for Al Qaeda-style militants in East Africa.The assault is the latest indication of the ease with which the Islamist rebels, ejected from Mogadishu by African peacekeeping forces about two years ago, have been able to organise and threaten the government’s fragile security gains. Last month Al Shebaab attacked a United Nations base in Mogadishu, killing 22 people.The government has said it needs more international training and other support to build up its security forces. For now, it still relies heavily on African peacekeepers to protect vital facilities.Shebaab spokesman Abdulaziz Abu Musab said its fighters had set off an improvised explosive device targeting security officials in Mogadishu’s Bakara market, claiming to have killed three officials and wounded three others. “We planted a bomb in a planned operation to kill the security officials of Bakara,” Musab said, accusing the men of “corruption and extortion”.A photographer at the scene described the charred remains of a burnt-out car.Witnesses said that at least one person was killed and three others badly wounded. “There was one dead body, and three others who were badly wounded, that were carried away after the explosion,” said Ahmed Muse, a shopkeeper in Bakara, Mogadishu’s main commercial district. Despite recent infighting inside the Shebaab—including the recent killing of top leaders in a bloody purge—analysts warn the extremist group is far from defeated. In previous years, the month of Ramadan—expected to start this week—has seen a surge in Shebaab attacks, with gunmen urged to carry out deeds by their extremist preachers. The Shebaab have lost a string of towns to a 17,700-strong African Union force, which fights alongside government forces. However, key Shebaab strongholds remaining include rural southern and central Somalia, while another faction has dug into remote and rugged mountains in the northern Puntland region.