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MOGADISHU (AFP)
— A bomb exploded Saturday near the palace
of President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed in
Mogadishu, killing three Somalis including a
policeman, witnesses said.
The explosion struck a police vehicle,
killing the officer and two civilians who
were walking nearby, said Farah Hasan Sahal,
an eyewitness.
"My nephew is one of the civilians killed,"
said Mohamed Ali Qoje. "He was going to
Bakara market when the explosion hit him."
Five people died this week in separate
attacks blamed on Islamist insurgents ousted
last year by Ethiopia-backed government
forces, sparking near-daily ambushes by the
rebels.
Also Saturday, a landmine hit an African
Union (AU) peacekeepers convoy near the
Mogadishu port in the south of the city.
"We don't have details yet, but a landmine
hit one of our vehicles near the sea port
and some of our forces were injured," said
Bahuko Baridgye, spokesman of the AU force.
Baridgye told AFP that the injured soldiers
were Ugandans, who alongside Burundian
troops currently make up the AU force in
Somalia which is ultimately to number around
8,000 soldiers.
The troubled Horn of Africa nation has been
plagued by civil unrest since the 1991
ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
Copyright © 2008 AFP. All rights reserved.
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