A suicide car bomber has attacked a United Nations convoy in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, killing at least three people and wounding seven others.
The attack Wednesday happened near the city's heavily secured international airport that is home to some foreign embassies and a U.N. base.
A U.N. spokesman said no U.N. workers were injured or killed in the blast.
The militant group al-Shabab claimed responsibility, saying in a statement that its fighters had "targeted a convoy of foreign mercenaries and their apostate allies."
The group, which wants to topple the Western-backed Mogadishu government and impose its version of Islamic law, damaged a U.N. vehicle but did not kill any U.N. staff, said Aleem Siddique, a spokesman for the U.N.'s Somalia mission.
“Our Mujahideen (fighters) based in Mogadishu have today targeted a convoy of foreign mercenaries and their apostate allies nearby the airport,” said Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, al-Shabab's military operations spokesman.
Al-Shabab has steadily lost ground in Somalia to African Union forces, but has carried out numerous bomb attacks in Mogadishu in recent years.
Security around the airport was increased after the attack, but airport operations and its flight schedule were unaffected, the prime minister's communications team said on Twitter.
Also on Wednesday, in neighboring Kenya, a court charged 13 people with being members of al-Shabab after they were arrested during police raids in mosques in the port city of Mombasa.
Some material for this report came from Reuters.
