Somali defense minister survives bomb attack

The Somali Defense Minister Yusuf Mohammed Siad has reportedly survived an assassination attempt in the capital Mogadishu.

The minister’s motorcade was targeted by a bomb blast Monday that killed at least two people and injured several civilians.

The attack was followed by several more explosions.

This is while thousands of residents have fled the violence-ridden Mogadishu for fear of getting caught in the crossfire as government plans an offensive against the country’s two main militant groups.

Militant groups in Somalia are in a persisting quarrel with the government of President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, which was established in 2009 with hopes of grounding the country’s first functional government since a 1991 coup.