Al-Shabaab Claims Responsibility For Suicide Car Bombing In Somalia

At least two people have been killed and more than 20 wounded as a suicide car bomber targeted a construction site along a major road outside Somalia’s capital, police said.

Six Turkish nationals were among the wounded, with two in serious condition, Turkey’s health minister Fahrettin Koca said.

The Turkish construction workers appeared to be the bomber’s target, Somali police Colonel Abdi Abdullahi said.

Most of the casualties were police officers providing security for the Turkish workers constructing a highway between capital Mogadishu and the agricultural town of Afgoye, 18 miles north.

The al-Qaida-linked al-Shabaab extremist group, based in Somalia, claimed the attack, according to the group’s radio arm, Andalus.

Al-Shabaab often carries out attacks in and near Mogadishu.

Ankara has invested heavily in Somalia, with technical and development assistance exceeding a billion dollars (£768m), according to the Turkish government.

Turkish companies run the international airport and seaport in Mogadishu, and in 2016 the Turkish president inaugurated Turkey’s largest embassy complex in the world in the capital.

Cover image: Satellite view of Afgoye (Picture: Google Maps).