MOGADISHU, July 3, 2007 (AFP) - African Union peacekeepers on Tuesday survived a roadside bomb blast in Somalia, where insurgents have ramped up attacks against government targets and foreign troops in recent months.

Army officer J.K Mukase of the Ugandan forces -- the only AU contingent deployed in the crisis-hit Horn of Africa country so far -- said nobody was hurt when the explosion went off in southern Mogadishu.

"Our forces were targeted today near the airport," Mukase told AFP. "A roadside bomb exploded when their military vehicles were passing somewhere near the airport."

"I saw smoke and fire going up in the sky and then a heavy explosion minutes after a convoy of Ugandan forces passed me," Kassem Mohamed, a witness, told AFP. Five Ugandan soldiers have been killed since they were deployed to Somalia in March. The 1,500 troops are a vanguard AU peace force aimed at restoring stability in Somalia.

The pan-African body plans to send up to 8,000 soldiers to Somalia, but other contributing countries are yet to fulfil their pledges.

Insurgents have relentlessly targeted Somalia's interim government and the Ethiopian troops assisting it since the alliance toppled an Islamist movement in January.

The lawless country has lacked an effective government since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre touched off bloody power struggles that have defied numerous attempts to restore stability.

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