The African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia says two of its soldiers have been wounded in a suicide attack in the capital, Mogadishu.
In an interview with VOA's Somali Service, an AU spokesman said three attackers drove a truck filled with explosives toward a new AU peacekeeping base Tuesday, prompting soldiers to open fire.
The spokesman, Major Barigye Ba-Huko, says AU forces destroyed the truck before it reached its target, killing all three people inside. At least two soldiers were wounded when the explosion went off. Several civilians were also reported injured.
The Associated Press says the al-Qaida linked rebel group al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for the attack.
In other violence, a small bomb exploded outside a mosque in the Bakara Market section of Mogadishu Tuesday, killing at least one person and injuring more than four others.
The mosque is located in an area of the city dominated by al-Shabab and Hizbul Islam fighters.
Al-Shabab and other Islamic insurgent groups control much of Mogadishu along with large parts of southern and central Somalia. The groups are fighting to impose a strict form of sharia, or Islamic law, on the country.
AU peacekeepers from Uganda and Burundi are supporting the government and frequently clash with the insurgents.
War-torn Somalia has not had a stable central government since 1991.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
