Hiiraan Online
Wednesday, January 04, 2017
Mogadishu (HOL) - An explosion near the UNDP compound in Mogadishu this morning has left at least four people wounded, according to police and witnesses.
"We can confirm that four guards working for the United Nations were injured," said Major Nur Osman, a police officer at the scene.
Early reports indicate that a bomb was planted onto a Toyota Hilux pick-up truck that was parked in a nearby garage operated by the UNDP.
According to the UNDP and UNSOM's official twitter page, no UNDP staff were among the wounded.
The UN guards that were incorrectly reported as injured were actually soldiers from DUGUF, a private security company.
DUGUF is a security and risk management firm that provides security to the UN and various embassies in Somalia.
Witnesses told HOL that security forces immediately cordoned off the scene.
Al Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement released by the militant groups spokesperson Sheikh Abdiaziz Abu Musab, according to Reuters.
"We are behind the blast that injured at least three U.N. guards this morning,"
The Al Qaeda-allied militants have vowed to disrupt the parliamentary and presidential election process.
This comes just days after AMISOM HQ in Mogadishu was targeted in a suicide car bomb attack by Al Shabaab.
* HOL had previously reported that the wounded soldiers were UN soldiers, but UNSOM and UNDP officials have confirmed that it was DUGUF soldiers who are a private security firm.