Mogadishu, Somalia (CNN) -- The Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for an attack Wednesday on a United Nations convoy near Mogadishu's airport that, according to police, claimed at least four lives.
Three of those killed in Wednesday morning's attack in the Somali capital were civilians and another was a security force member, police Col. Mohamed Hassan said.
"I saw at least two dead bodies lying in a pool of blood on the ground and police arrived soon at the area and began shooting in the air to disperse the crowds," a witness named Sharma'arke said by phone from the scene.
A plume of black smoke could be seen rising from the airport, which also acts as a staging ground for United Nations operations and for the African Union troops on a peacekeeping mission in Somalia.
Two United Nations vehicles were damaged, a U.N. official said, but no U.N. staff were injured.
A spokesman for Al-Shabaab, Sheikh Abdiaziz Abu Musab, said that the terrorists' target was "foreign mercenaries." He claimed the attack "killed several Somali soldiers and foreigners working with U.N.," though he did not specify a number of dead or their nationalities.
"Today we carried out in the capital a sacred car bomb attack that hit convoy of vehicles carrying foreign mercenaries and U.N. staff near Mogadishu airport," Abu Musab said.
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