Somalia, February 15: A policeman says a top Somali defense official has survived an attack by a suicide bomber driving a vehicle laden with explosives in the capital of Mogadishu.
The attack against State Defense Minister Yusuf Mohamed Siyad comes as the besieged U.N.-backed government is preparing to launch an offensive against Islamist insurgents who have links to al-Qaida.
Police officer Hassan Farah says Monday’s attack injured two of Siyad’s bodyguards. He says police are investigating civilian casualties.
Farah says the bomber’s vehicle chased the minister’s vehicle, collided with it and then exploded. He says a second explosion from a roadside bomb followed the car bomb.
Somalia has not had an effective government in 19 years.
—Agencies