Blast kills 3 Somali bomb disposal experts in Mogadishu

By

Abdi Guled, The Associated Press

Somali security officers walk at the scene of a car bomb attack in Mogadishu on May 17, 2017. At least three members of the Somali security forces were killed today as they tried to defuse a bomb inside a vehicle in the capital Mogadishu, police said. / AFP PHOTO / MOHAMED ABDIWAHAB (Photo credit should read MOHAMED ABDIWAHAB/AFP/Getty Images)

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Three bomb disposal experts were killed in a car bomb blast west of Somalia’s capital on Wednesday, police said.omb detonated as the experts were trying to dismantle a car laden with explosives that security forces seized in Wadajir district, Capt. Mohamed Hussein said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast. The Somalia-based al-Shabab extremist group often claims responsibility for such attacks.

Al-Shabab has vowed to step up attacks in Mogadishu and elsewhere after President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed announced a new offensive against the group. Targets in recent months have included hotels, military facilities and checkpoints and areas around the presidential palace.

Somalia’s military is under growing pressure to assume responsibility for the country’s security as a 22,000-strong multinational African Union force prepares to start withdrawing in 2018. The force, which has been supporting the fragile central government, plans to leave by the end of 2020.

Somalia’s president last week urged the international community to lift the arms embargo on his long-chaotic country, saying the military needs more than AK-47s to combat the extremists.

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Abdi Guled, The Associated Press