On Sunday, Islamist fighters detonated a bomb storming a government building in the capital of Somalia, killing at least five people, according to the ministry of information.
Around noon, al Shabaab attackers stormed the building housing the mayor of Mogadishu’s office and engaged security troops in gunfire, according to the ministry and eyewitnesses.
According to the ministry’s Facebook page, security killed six of the militants and evacuated the area by around 6 p.m. local time.
Since the administration of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud initiated an offensive against the al Qaeda-affiliated group in August, Al Shabaab has increased attacks as a sign of resistance.
‘We were in the office and we were deafened by a blast. We ran out. Gunfire followed,’ Farah Abdullahi, who works in the mayor’s office, told Reuters.
Abdikadir Abdirahman, director of Aamin Ambulance Services, gave a higher estimate of the death count, saying it had transported the bodies of eight civilian victims.
At least another 16 people were injured in the attack, he added.
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