A roadside bomb targeted a convoy transporting the Mogadishu police commander on the outskirts of the Somali capital Mogadishu on Monday, killing at least two civilians and injuring many security officials, according to a spokesman.
The attack occurred on the main route that connects Mogadishu and Afgoye, a village 30 kilometers (18 miles) southwest of the capital.
Two civilians were killed in the blast, Somali police spokesman Abdifatah Adan Hassan told Anadolu Agency over the phone.
“The vehicle carrying Mogadishu Police Chief Farhan Qarole was travelling too quickly at the moment of the explosion, and he survived,” Hassan added, adding that Qarole’s bodyguards were injured.
The explosion occurred as the convoy was returning from the village of Calamada in the lower Shabelle region, according to local media.
Al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group al-Shabaab, which is very active in Somalia, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that it had wounded six bodyguards.