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Blast in Somali capital kills 1 person, wounds 7, say witnesses and official
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 08 - 04 - 2008


A car rammed into a building
where Burundian peacekeepers are based in the Somali
capital in an apparent suicide bombing Tuesday, causing a
huge explosion and killing at least one person and wounding
seven, witnesses and an African Union official said, according to AP.
The military wing of Somalia's Islamic group claimed
responsibility for the attack in a southern neighborhood of
Mogadishu.
«A car driving at break neck speed passed us and within
seconds turned around and rammed into a locked gate that is
not normally used. Then we heard a huge explosion whose
dust covered us,» said Abdullahi Hussein Sabriye, who
added he witnessed the attack while he was 50 meters (165
feet) away at a teashop.
«A huge explosion occurred outside the building where
Burundian peacekeepers are based,» said Maj. Bahoku
Barigye, the African Union force spokesman, adding two
soldiers were wounded.
«One man, believed to be a Somali, died on the spot. I'm
not sure if he was the suicide bomber or not,» Barigye
said.
The car exploded before it got inside the complex, said a
Burundian soldier who spoke on condition of anonymity
because he was not authorized to speak to the media. He
said five Somali civilians also were wounded.
Sheik Mukhtar Robow, a spokesman for al-Shabab told The
Associated Press that his group was behind the attack.
Al-Shabab, or «The Youth,» is the military wing of the
Council of Islamic Courts that Ethiopian troops backing
Somali soldiers ousted from its southern Somalia
strongholds and the capital in December 2006.
«One of our fighters has targeted the African Union
troops who are here to support the Ethiopian troops'
massacre of our people,» Robow said. He did not give any
other details.
The 2,000 Ugandan and Burundian troops in Mogadishu are
part of a proposed 8,000-troop AU peacekeeping force that
has not been fully deployed because African countries have
failed to commit the required troops. The force is supposed
to protect key government buildings, the port and airport
as well as train a national army and police force for
Somalia.
The peacekeepers have generally been well received by
Mogadishu residents because they are perceived to be
neutral in the near daily violence that hits the capital.
Somalia has a weak U.N.-backed government, but the country
has experienced anarchy and chaos since warlords ousted
longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. Later the
warlords turned on each other, plunging Somalia into a
cycle of violence.


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