Two people were killed when a car bomb exploded near the Somali parliament building on Saturday, a few hundred metres from the presidential compound, a lawmaker said. Police said soldiers guarding the building prevented it from reaching its target. "The suicide car bomb was targeting the parliament entrance but it was fired on from all sides as it approached the main gate," said Nur Ahmed, a colonel in the police service. Police said two soldiers were killed and four wounded. It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack. Al Shabaab militants, who threatened to step up attacks during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which began on Sunday, were not immediately available for comment. A Reuters reporter saw bloody, broken chairs that were used by the troops guarding parliament before the attack. "A car bomb occurred near the parliament house but we are all safe," Dahir Amin Jesow, a legislator, said, referring to lawmakers inside the building. "I could see a dead soldier and three other injured soldiers outside parliament's compound, which is safe," he said. Government forces blocked all roads leading to the area and the sound of ambulances could be heard. "We were shaken by a huge blast near the parliament house. We were immediately surrounded by forces and we cannot go out of houses," Farah Sabdow, a local resident, told Reuters. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/105496.aspx
