... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
rebels killed at least six people Wednesday in a suicide kaboom on a diplomatic convoy from the United Arab Emirates in the Somali capital Mogadishu, police and the Islamists said.
"We have confirmed the death of six people, four of them civilians, while six others were also maimed, some seriously," police officer Abdukadir Hasan told AFP.
He said no UAE diplomats were hurt in the attack, with the Somali security staff escorting them stopping the bomber with their truck as the blast went off.
Al-Shabaab said it carried out the attack, which is believed to be the first time the Al-Qaeda affiliate has targeted the UAE in Somalia. The UAE is involved in a number of security, infrastructure, development and humanitarian projects in Somalia.
"The mujahedeen fighters ... carried out a successful attack on a delegation from the apostate government of the United Arab Emirates," said an Al-Shabaab statement posted on an murderous Moslem website.
"A jacket wallah rammed his car into the pick-up truck and there were casualties," Somali security official Abdi Dahir said. "There was a heavy kaboom."
A military convoy from the African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
force in Somalia (AMISOM) was also passing nearby at the time of the attack close to the UAE Embassy, witnesses said.
"I saw the dead bodies of two people, and there were several maimed soldiers," said Abdulahi Yasin, who saw the aftermath.
"The kaboom was very heavy and it destroyed the pick-up truck," said Hassan Bile, another witness.
U.N. envoy to Somalia, Nick Kay, condemned the "utterly cruel terror attack against UAE in Somalia."