UPDATE 2-Car bomb explodes near police academy in Somali capital - police

Seven people were injured when a car bomb exploded near the police academy in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Thursday, police said, the latest in a string of attacks in the city by Islamist insurgent group al Shabaab. Abdikadir Abdirahman, the director of AAMIN ambulance service, told Reuters six men and a woman had been injured.

Al Shabaab claimed responsibility. "We are behind the blast. There are casualties of police and police officers. We shall give details later," Abdiasis Abu Musab the group's military operation spokesman told Reuters.

Al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab says it wants to overthrow the weak, U.N.-backed government and rule Somalia according to its reading of Islamic law. The Horn of Africa nation has been riven by civil war since 1992, when clan-based warlords overthrew a dictator then turned on each other. (Reporting by Abdi Sheikh; Writing by Katharine Houreld; Editing by Alison Williams)