Peacekeepers from the African Union in Somalia foiled a bomb plot targeting Turkish aid workers in a Mogadishu camp on Saturday, officials said.
The government said a remote controlled bomb was planted in Rajo, a camp in the Madina district of the Somali capital where Turkish aid workers usually deliver food. The AU force, known as AMISOM, also has a base in the area.
"AMISOM foiled a remotely controlled bomb that was targeted at Turkish aid workers in Rajo camp," Mohamed Dahir Farah, the government's humanitarian coordinator for Mogadishu told Reuters.
Mogadishu has become a haven for Somalis fleeing the drought-hit, rebel-controlled parts of the country where al Shabaab imposed a ban on food aid agencies and tried to prevent Somalis from fleeing in search of food.
Government forces and the AU soldiers have controlled most of the crumbling city since al Shabaab withdrew at the beginning of August, although the rebels have vowed to strike despite pulling their fighters out.
AMISOM said they were alerted to the threat after finding a wire outside the camp.
"We found a detonating wire some metres away. We followed it and removed the bomb that was planted inside the camp," Paddy Ankunda, AU spokesman told Reuters on Saturday.
(Reporting by Mohamed Ahmed and Abdi Sheikh; Editing by David Clarke)
Source: Reuters
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