Police: Mogadishu hit by car bomb

Police say a man driving a car laden with explosives blew himself up in Somalia’s capital. Policemen Nur Hassan at the scene said Saturday it appeared the man detonated his explosives prematurely. He died on the scene. No one else was wounded or killed. Mogadishu has long been a battleground during Somalia’s 21-year-old civil war. The Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab group withdrew from most of its bases in August and recent pushes by African Union and Somali troops have helped bring partial security to more of the city. But insurgents in disguise can still move freely and assassinations, suicide attacks and bombings are still very frequent. Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991.