A former Somali foreign minister was among five killed Wednesday when a car bomb exploded in the capital Mogadishu, according to the country's information minister.
The bombing was claimed by Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab, which said in a statement it had targeted a convoy escorting officials and lawmakers heading to the presidential palace.
"The security forces stopped... a vehicle loaded with explosives which was aiming to target a security forces base. We have confirmed five killed and 11 wounded in the blast," deputy police chief Zakia Hussein wrote on Twitter.
Information Minister Mohamed Abdi Hayr told a press conference that former foreign minister Hussein Elabe Faahiye, who served under former premier Ali Mohamed Gedi in 2007, was among those killed.
Witness Mohamed Saney said he had seen a female soldier among the dead.
"Several vehicles were destroyed in the blast and ambulances rushed to the scene to collect wounded people."
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