MOGADISHU , Somalia ( CNN ) -- At least 39 civilians were killed in Somalia 's capital Monday after a convoy of African Union peacekeepers was hit by a roadside bomb , causing the troops to open fire , officials and eyewitnesses said . Islamist militia display weapons Monday in defiance of newly elected President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed . Maj. Ba-Huko Barigye , spokesman to the African Union Mission to Somalia ( AMISON ) , said an explosion targeted a contingent of Ugandan troops . At least one soldier was injured and one of the vehicles damaged , Barigye said . Ahmed Dirie Ali , spokesman of Hawiye Traditional Elders -- a major group of local clan leaders -- condemned the civilian deaths . And Mogadishu 's deputy mayor , Abdifatah Ibrahim Shaweye , accused AMISOM of killing innocent civilians deliberately during a `` brutal attack , '' an allegation Barigye denied . `` The deputy mayor has got the wrong information , '' he said . `` They are targeting AMISOM , but the people who have died are all Somali civilians , who have nothing , whatsoever to do with AMISOM . '' Officials say the incident happened on Maka al-Mukarama road , which connects the presidential palace and the airport in southern Mogadishu . The incident occurred on the same day that the new Somali president , Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed , was attending an African Union summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa . Ethiopia invaded Somalia in 2006 , to depose an Islamic government led by Ahmed that had taken control of Mogadishu . But at the summit , U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged continued support for national reconciliation efforts in Somalia , which has been without an effective central government since 1991 . `` It is important that these efforts should have a tangible effect in improving the security environment for the Somali people and humanitarian actors , '' Ban said in a statement released by his office . `` The United Nations will provide strong logistical support to the African Union 's AMISOM force and help develop Somali security forces . '' He also encouraged AU leaders to consider a plan that will incorporate AMISOM into a larger U.N. peacekeeping force in the months ahead . AMISOM was set up to take over from Ethiopian forces , which were supposed to be withdrawn soon after the December 2006 invasion that deposed the Islamic Courts Union , which Ahmed once led . But the Ethiopians and the country 's U.N.-backed transitional government were soon battling Islamist guerrillas , including the militia al-Shabaab -- which the United States has designated as a terrorist group with links to al Qaeda . The transitional government eventually signed a peace agreement with a new movement led by Ahmed , the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia . But al-Shabaab has rejected the deal and continued fighting . The militia overran the town of Baidoa , the seat of the transitional government , within hours of the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops last week . Ahmed was elected president Saturday by lawmakers in Djibouti , and many Somalis view him as a final hope to challenge the militia and its extremist ideology . CNN 's Amir Ahmed and Ahmednor Mohamed Farah for CNN contributed to this report .
Roadside bomb strikes African Union embassy , AU spokesman said . Officials : Civilian deaths occurred on road between presidential palace , airport . Local deputy mayor , AU spokesman said over cause of civilian deaths .