The chairperson of the Commission of the African Union (AU), Jean Ping, on Saturday evening condemned "in the strongest terms" the suicide car bomb attacks that took place in Somalia's capital Mogadishu, describing it as a cowardly and terrorist attack.

"Today's cowardly and terrorist attack came a time of renewed efforts to further peace and reconciliation in Somalia," Ping said in a statement.

He reiterated the AU's determination "to do whatever within its capacity to continue supporting the ongoing peace and reconciliation efforts."

In the statement, he called on all the Somali stakeholders "to recommit themselves to dialogue and bring to a definite end to the violence and suffering that have been plaguing Somalia for about two decades now."

A suicide car bomb apparently aimed at AU peacekeepers in the south of Mogadishu exploded on Saturday after police fired at the vehicle, killing 15 civilians and wounding 30 others in the blast.

Bridgeye Bahouko, spokesman for the AU Mission in Somalia ( AMISOM), said that there was only a minor injury sustained by one of the peacekeepers who were only meters away from the scene of the blast.

The incident took place when Uganda is to deploy another battalion of about 700 soldiers in volatile Somalia following the complete withdrawal of the Ethiopian troops.

A total of 8,000 African Union peacekeepers are required in Somalia but only 3,000 troops from Uganda and Burundi have been deployed.

The development also came as Somali parliamentarians have started leaving the southern town of Baidoa for Djibouti City, capital of neighboring Djibouti, where the Somali presidential election is scheduled to be held later this month.

(Xinhua News Agency January 25, 2009)