Four soldiers killed as Emiratis targeted in Somalia

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Four soldiers killed as Emiratis targeted in Somalia

Al Jazeera And Reuters, 24 Jun 2015

URL: http://goo.gl/Z6m8rM
A car bomb targeting a bulletproof vehicle carrying diplomats from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has killed at least 12 people, including four Somali soldiers, in Mogadishu.

Local officials said that the Emiratis were unharmed.

In a statement to Al Jazeera, the armed group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for Wednesday's attack in Mogadishu.

"We targeted a vehicle carrying the enemies of Somalia," Abdulaziz Abu Muscab said.

Muscab later told the Reuters new agency that the attack targeted UAE nationals. They were military trainers, Hussein Afrah, a Somali military officer, told Reuters, confirming the intended targets were n"ot hurt.

The explosion happened near a defence ministry hospital and heavy gunfire was heard soon afterwards.