In the latest of a series of blasts claimed by the militant group al Shabaab, a car loaded with explosives hit an office housing Turkish embassy staff in the Somali capital Mogadishu, witnesses and officials said last weekend.
“A suicide car bomb targeted a building housing Turkish embassy workers near K4 [Kilometre Four],” police officer Ahmed Mohamud told the news agency Reuters.
“The car was taking advantage of a Turkish car that was going into the building, thus the car bomb exploded and destroyed the gate,” he said, claiming that three people were killed and nine others wounded.
Al Shabaab, which said earlier this month it would increase attacks during the Ramadan fasting period, claimed responsibility for the attack via Twitter.
“Mujahideen forces in Mogadishu have just carried out an operation targeting a group of Turkish diplomats in Hodan district,” they said.
“All the Mujahideen who carried out the operation have returned safely back to their bases inside Mogadishu, preparing for the next operation.”
Turkey has been highly involved in aid work in Somalia, having put around $400 million (£260 million) into the country since 2011. In that year Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan became the first non-African leader to visit Somalia in almost two decades.
In a live-broadcast speech, Erdogan said that the attack was carried out by “supposed Muslims.”
“They are doing this against our government,” he said.
