By AFP

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A suicide bomber on Monday rammed a vehicle loaded with explosives into a vehicle carrying a European Union military convoy, injuring two civilians, police said.

Al-Shabaab Islamists claimed responsibility for the attack against "European Union Christians", which targeted vehicles carrying Italian soldiers, in a statement on a pro-Shabaab website.

"The attacked convoy was coming from the Ministry of Defence when targeted along the industrial road and ... two civilians were wounded. The military truck in the convoy that was struck was badly damaged," police officer Ahmed Ibrahim told AFP.

Slightly damaged

The Italian army said in a statement that five Italian vehicles were in the convoy, and a vehicle with four soldiers onboard was "slightly damaged and able to return to the base".

"No Italian soldiers were injured in the event", which took place some 700m from the Defence ministry.

The European Training Mission in Somalia (EUTM) was launched in 2010 to strengthen the country's transitional government by offering military advice and training.

Regular bombings

Somalia collapsed into civil war in 1991 that destroyed state institutions and has been wracked by an Al-Qaeda-linked Islamist insurgency since 2006.

The Shabaab carry out regular bombings and armed assaults on government, military and civilian targets in the capital in their fight to overthrow the internationally backed government in Mogadishu.