The attack was claimed by the Al-Qaeda-linked Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab, which has stepped up its activities in Somalia and neighbouring Kenya in recent weeks.
Four people were killed in a
car bombing in Somalia on Saturday that apparently targeted Turkish engineers
working on a road near the capital Mogadishu, police and witnesses said.
The bomb struck near the
town of Afgoye about 30 kilometres (20 miles) west of the capital, killing four
people and wounding several others including several Turkish nationals, said
local police officer Abdirahman Adan.
“The blast was huge, it
destroyed a container used by the Turkish engineers who work on the Afgoye road
construction,” said witness Muhidin Yusuf.
“There were police who were
guarding the Turkish engineers and several other people gathering near the
checkpoint where the temporary shelter is located,” said another witness Ahmed
Said.
“I saw the dead bodies of
several (people) and Turkish workers who were wounded in the blast.”
The Islamist group, which
has fought for more than a decade to topple the Somali government, has carried
out a series of attacks in recent weeks including a massive car bombing in
Mogadishu on December 28 that killed 81 people.
And on January 5, the
jihadists stormed a military base used by US forces in Kenya’s coastal Lamu
region, killing three Americans.
Kenya sent troops into
Somalia in 2011 as part of an African Union peacekeeping mission fighting
against Al-Shabaab, and has seen several brutal retaliation attacks both on its
troops in Somalia and civilians in Kenya.
Last week, Al-Shabaab warned that Kenya will “never be safe”, threatening tourists and calling for more attacks on US interests.