A suicide car bomb attack struck a Turkish embassy building in Mogadishu Saturday, killing one Somali civilian and wounding two Turkish policemen, according to a diplomat and a witness.

A suicide car bomb attack struck a Turkish embassy building in Mogadishu Saturday, killing one Somali civilian and wounding two Turkish policemen, according to a diplomat and a witness.

A Somali witness said that an explosives-laden vehicle rammed the gates of a compound housing embassy staff and exploded, killing a passer-by.

A diplomat in Istanbul said Turkish guards were able to kill two attackers before a third detonated his vehicle, wounding the two Turkish policemen.

"The two policemen have been taken to a hospital in Mogadishu. We are sending a medically equipped plane to repatriate them," the diplomat stated.

"Turkey is very active in Somalia and when you are very active you become a target quite easily," he added.

Turkey in 2011 launched a major diplomatic, economic and humanitarian push in war-torn Somalia, one of the very few nations to set up an embassy in the capital.

It was opened following a visit in August by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the second major leader to visit post-civil war Mogadishu, a few months after Uganda's Yoweri Museveni.

Direct flights between Somalia and Turkey started in March 2012. Turkey has helped build hospitals and renovate other buildings in the capital.
There was no immediate claim for the latest attack but Qaeda-linked "Shebab" insurgents have carried out a series of bombings, attacks and killings in a bid to overthrow the internationally-backed government.

A separate car bomb on Saturday morning that targeted a Somali government vehicle left one person dead.