At least three members of the Somali security forces were killed Wednesday as they tried to defuse a bomb inside a vehicle in the capital Mogadishu, police said.

“The vehicle was seized and the security forces were trying to defuse the bomb inside when it went off,” said Ibrahim Mohamed, a police officer. “Three of the security forces were killed in the blast.”

One of the dead was a member of a specialised bomb squad, the other two regular soldiers.

Bombings are a regular occurrence in Mogadishu, often carried out by al-Qaeda-aligned Shabaab militants who attack the government, military and civilian targets in their fight to overthrow the internationally backed government.

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