A Somali minister survived an assassination attempt after a hand-grenade was thrown at his car as he was shopping at a local market in Maka Al Mukarama streat in Mogadishu.
Mr Mohamed Abdullahi Hassan Noah, Minister for Youth and Sport, said the explosive hit and damaged his car just when he had alighted to go to the market.
The minister confirmed that none of his body-guards were wounded, but Somalia’s security minister said in a tweet that two civilians were injured during the attack.
Government officials have condemned the attempted assassination and asked for increased vigilance.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack but the Somali minister accused al-Shabaab militants for masterminding the attempted assassination on him.
Al-Shabaab has carried out deathly attacks against government officials in Somalia in the recent past.
Sunday’s attack came hours after Somali officials released new poll dates for the 2016 elections.
(Writing by Hassan Istiila. Editing by Julian Kamau)
