Somali defence official survives bomb attack

Somali State Minister of Defence Yusuf Mohamed Indha'adde survived a car bomb explosion that killed two passers-by yesterday in Mogadishu, security officials and witnesses said.

An explosives-laden parked vehicle was remote-detonated near the Ambassador Hotel on Mogadishu's Maka al-Mukarama road where Indha'adde was holding meetings, the sources said.

"They were targeting the minister but he and his people were unharmed," police officer Aden Ali said.

Several eyewitnesses said two civilians were killed in the explosion, which sparked an exchange of fire in the neighbourhood.

They also said government forces shot a suspect shortly after the failed attack on Indha'adde, one of the most powerful figures in Somalia's security apparatus. The embattled transitional federal government (TFG) is believed to be in the final phase of preparations for a much-anticipated military offensive to root out the Shebab, a hardline Islamist insurgent group sympathetic to Al-Qaeda.

Civilians have been fleeing the capital ahead of the planned offensive but those left behind have borne the brunt of the sporadic clashes pitting Shebab-led rebels against TFG forces backed by African Union troops.

According to the United Nations, more than 50 civilians were killed in the crossfire since February 5 alone and more than 100 wounded.

The UN's refugee agency reported that 8,100 people have been displaced since the start of the month.