A roadside explosion targeting a Somali police official in the capital Mogadishu hit a police car Wednesday, killing two officers inside and two civilian bystanders, witnesses said.

The explosion in west Mogadishu was targeted at a police vehicle belonging to Ali Yare, the deputy commanding officer at the Dharkinley police station, according to security sources.

Mr. Yare survived the explosion, but a young girl who was walking along the side of the road was killed in the blast.

Speaking with Garowe Online, the young girl's relatives said she was sent to the local market to buy cooking oil.

Somalia's capital has known little but shootouts, roadside bombings and assassinations since Ethiopian-backed Somali government troops ousted Mogadishu's Islamic Courts rulers in early 2007.

The Islamists are blamed for an ongoing insurgency that has killed thousands of people and displaced hundreds of thousands more from their homes.

International human rights organizations Amnesty International has accused the Ethiopian government of committing war crimes in Somalia, a charged Addis Ababa denies.