Ex-minister among five killed in Mogadishu car bomb

MOGADISHU: A former Somali foreign minister was among five killed Wednesday when a car bomb exploded in the capital Mogadishu, according to the country´s information minister. The bombing was claimed by Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab, which said in a statement it had targeted a convoy escorting officials and lawmakers heading to the presidential palace. “The security forces stopped... a vehicle loaded with explosives which was aiming to target a security forces base. We have confirmed five killed and 11 wounded in the blast,” deputy police chief Zakia Hussein wrote on Twitter. Information Minister Mohamed Abdi Hayr told a press conference that former foreign minister Hussein Elabe Faahiye, who served under former premier Ali Mohamed Gedi in 2007, was among those killed. Witness Mohamed Saney said he had seen a female soldier among the dead.