Police wounded in Somali capital explosion

Friday, 17 February 2012 13:38

Written by aljazeera.net

The blast destroyed the gate to the police investigations department and shattered windows [AFP]

At least two police officers have been wounded in the Somali capital Mogadishu after a car bomb exploded next to a police department building.

Police said the bomb went off on Friday after they had arrested the driver of a car suspected of carrying explosives.

Officers said they were waiting outside the criminal investigations department for bomb disposal experts when the explosives in the car detonated.

The attack was the latest in a wave of assaults in war-torn Mogadishu.
   
"We had seized this car earlier in the morning and detained the driver, who is alive and under arrest," Mohamed Ali, a police officer, said.

"It went off prematurely as we were waiting for bomb experts to come and disarm the car."

The blast destroyed the gate to the police department and shattered the windows of buildings nearby. The explosion set ablaze cars parked in the compound, residents said.

The criminal investigations department is located near other government offices in central Mogadishu.
   
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Suspicion is likely to fall on the al Qaeda-linked al-Shabab fighters, who have been fighting the government since 2007.
   
Al-Shabab has intensified the frequency of attacks in Mogadishu since withdrawing from most of its bases in the capital in August.