This photo shows a view from the site after a bomb exploded near a police convoy in the Somali capital of Mogadishu on Saturday. Regional police chief Farhan Qarole escapes unhurt, says official. Photo: VCG

 A Somali government spokesman was wounded Sunday in an attack by the Al-Shabaab jihadist group, though his wounds are "not serious," the prime minister's office said.

Sunday's attack, for which Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility, came a week after Somali leaders agreed to wrap up parliamentary elections by February 25, following repeated delays that have threatened the stability of the troubled country.

More than a year of delays had deepened bitter tensions between Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble and President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, better known by his nickname Farmajo, amid fears their squabbling could erupt into violence.

"The spokesman of the Somali Federal government was wounded in a terrorist attack," the office said in a statement. Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimuu's "injuries are not serious and we wish him quick recovery."

Multiple sources said the attacker, who was killed in the incident, attempted to get onto the spokesman's car before detonating explosives, partially destroying the vehicle.

"A suicide bomber jumped onto a vehicle transporting the spokesman of the government of Mohamed Ibrahim," said a policeman at the scene of the attack, Mohamed Farah.

"He was lucky to have survived with light injuries," Farah said, adding that two other people were injured.

Witnesses confirmed that the attacker had pressed himself against the car before a loud explosion was heard.

One witness, Abdirahman Moalin Ali, said he had seen "human body parts strewn across the area."

Al-Shabaab swiftly claimed the attack in a statement. 

Moalimuu has been a spokesman and adviser to the prime minister for more than a year, having previously been a journalist with the BBC, and is a former secretary general of the National Union of Somali Journalists. 

He has survived several attacks on residences.