Witness reports dead bodies amid scenes of heavy fighting after car laden with explosives rammed gate of ministry building in capital
People run from the scene of a car bomb outside the education ministry in Mogadishu. Photograph: MOHAMED ABDIWAHAB/AFP/Getty Images
At least eight were killed on Tuesday when militants from the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabaab detonated two bombs outside the education ministry in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, and gunmen fought their way into the building.
Security forces rushed to the scene and ambulances ferried wounded victims to hospitals. Somalia’s minister for internal security, Abdirizak Omar, said special forces had secured the building and casualties were “minimal”, though witnesses reported seeing dead bodies.
“There were several people lying dead at the scene,” witnesses Idil Malim told Agence France-Presse.
Al-Shabaab, who have claimed responsibility for the attack, have staged regular attacks in the capital as part of their fight against the country’s internationally backed government and African Union forces supporting it. A car bombing to force entry into fortified buildings followed by an armed raid has become a trademark tactic of the group.
Police at the scene put the death toll at eight. Colonel Hussein Ibrahim, a senior police officer, said one African Union soldier, one Somali government soldier, three civilians and two militants were dead. African Union troops have been supporting Somali forces against al-Shabaab and the Mogadishu government relies on the peacekeepers to guard major buildings.
Somali security services gather outside the education ministry in Mogadishu. Photograph: MOHAMED ABDIWAHAB/AFP/Getty Images
“AU forces were always inside the building for protection, otherwise the situation would be worse. Now the fighting is over and the building is secured,” he said.
The building is in the K5 district of Mogadishu. Smoke could be seen rising over the walled compound, which also houses other government ministries
“First two blasts occurred, a bike blast and a car blast, outside the building, then armed fighters stormed in,” Major Ali Nur, a police officer, told Reuters.
Somalia has been unstable since the collapse of Siad Barre’s hardline regime in 1991. The country’s new government is supported by a 22,000-strong African Union force that includes troops from Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.
Al-Shabaab fighters have carried out a string of revenge attacks in neighbouring countries, notably Kenya and Uganda, in response to their participation in the AU force.
It carried out its deadliest attack yet earlier this month, when gunmen massacred 148 people in a day-long siege of a university in Kenya’s north-eastern town of Garissa.
Source: The guardian
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