A car bomb targeting a group of Turkish contractors exploded on Saturday in Afgoye, northwest of the Somali capital Mogadishu, wounding 11 people, reports say.

 

According to Reuters, it was not known who carried out the attack but residents and police said al Shabaab fighters had tried to attack Afgoye, about 30 km from Mogadishu, late on Friday and were repulsed.

 

“A speeding suicide car bomb rammed into a place where the Turkish engineers and Somali police were having lunch,” police officer Nur Ali told Reuters from Afgoye.

 

The 11 people reported injured as a result of the attack include three Turkish engineers and their translator. Some of those wounded are reported to be in critical conditions.

 

Turkish engineers are helping with road construction in Somalia. A group of engineers was among those hit in late December in a blast at a checkpoint in Mogadishu that killed at least 90 people.