A UN vehicle carrying some UN officials exploded after driving over a bomb buried in one of the main roads of the country near Merca, some 100 km south Mogadishu, said local sources to MISNA. The sources said that the bomb (it is not clear whether a battle leftover or a more recently built device) was along the coastal highway leading to the capital from the city of Bufow. UN sources contacted by MISNA said that the driver of the vehicle was killed on the spot, while an Italian UN officer was wounded. The same sources said that the Italian officer is Saverio Bertolino, and he is the director of the United Nations Organization for Project Services (UNOPS). Since 1992 Bertolino has worked in the Horn of Africa and in Somalia in particular, for NGO's and then the UN. He suffered minor injuries and is being treated at a UN facility in Somalia, before being transferred to Kenya tomorrow.