Somalia's new army chief survives car bomb that kills 13

A soldier stands by the wreckage of a passing minibus

Mogadishu: Somalia's new military chief survived a suicide car bomb attack yesterday that killed 13 people, police said. Gen Mohamed Ahmed Jimale had just been sworn into office and was traveling in a convoy with senior military officials when the bomb exploded near Somalia's defense ministry compound in Mogadishu, police say.

Five soldiers and at least 8 civilians travelling in a passing minibus were killed, said Capt Mohamed Hussein. Somalia's Islamic extremist rebels, al-Shabab, claimed responsibility for the attack and confirmed Jimale was their intended target, and that they had killed seven of his bodyguards in the attack.

"What happened here was a painful tragedy - the blast struck two packed minibuses and no one survived," said Abdifitah Halane, a spokesman for Mogadishu's mayor.