Al Shabab car bomb kills four Somalis

MOGADISHU — Four Somalis were killed when a car bomb hit a United Nations convoy near the capital's international airport on Wednesday, showing the threat still posed by insurgents despite their recent loss of territory.

Al Qaeda-aligned Somali Islamist group Al Shabab claimed responsibility.

The group, which wants to topple the Western-backed Mogadishu government and impose its version of Islamic law, damaged a UN vehicle but did not kill any UN staff, a spokesman for the UN's Somalia mission, Aleem Siddique, said.

Somali police said four Somalis were killed in the explosion, including a policeman and two bodyguards working for a contractor. Thirteen other people were wounded.

Attacks have intensified in recent weeks, showing the threat still posed by Al Shabab after African peacekeepers pushed them out of the capital in 2011. Officials say the Islamists still control tracts of countryside and settlements from where they have launched their guerrilla-style campaign.