MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) – Three police officers and one civilian were killed in a car bombing outside a police academy in the Somali capital, a police commander said, and a spokesman for an Islamic extremist group said it repelled an attack by international forces.
A suicide car bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle outside a cafe near the academy in Mogadishu on Wednesday, said Gen. Ali Hersi Barre.
There was no claim of responsibility for the blast, but it bore the hallmarks of al-Shabab.
The Islamic extremist group said Wednesday that its fighters had foiled an attempt by foreign forces to raid an al-Shabab-held town in southern Somalia during the night.
Sheikh Abdiaziz Abu Musab, a spokesman for al-Shabab, told a militant-run online radio that unidentified foreign forces with two helicopters tried to launch a ground attack on a military station in Awdhegle town in Lower Shabelle region before they were repulsed. Al-Shabab fighters forced the foreign forces dropped off by helicopter to retreat with casualties after more than 30 minutes of clashes.