The terrorist group Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for an attack that killed at least four U.N. workers in a northeastern Somali city on Monday.
In the attack, the blast from an improvised explosive device hit the vehicle taking the U.N. staff members from their guest house to the office in the city of Garowe, UNICEF said in a statement.
Four other staff members were wounded and are in a serious condition, said UNICEF, which works to improve children’s rights, development and protection.
“The UNICEF colleagues were an integral part of UNICEF’s work in Somalia, dedicated to improving the lives of others,” the organization said.
‘Shocked and appalled’
Garowe is the administrative capital of the autonomous Puntland region in northeastern Somalia.
“I condemn attack this morning on UN in Garowe. Shocked and appalled by loss of life,” Nick Kay, the special representative of the U.N. secretary general for Somalia, said on his Twitter account.
UNICEF said it was contacting the families of the staff members caught up in the attack and airlifting the wounded.
Abdiaziz Abu Musab, the military operations spokesman for Al Shabaab, said the group was behind the attack.
The al Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group, which is based in Somalia, caused outrage earlier this month by carrying out an attack on a Kenyan university that killed close to 150 people, most of them students.