MOGADISHU: At least seven people were injured in a bomb blast at the gates of the mayor’s office on Sunday in Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital city, and gunfire continued to sound, a witness and a member of the ambulance service said.
Somalia’s extremist group al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the bomb attack.
Director of Aamin Ambulance Services, Abdikadir Abdirahman, told Reuters news agency that ambulance staff had evacuated five injured people from the blast scene.
He said that gunfire was still ongoing in the area, making it difficult for ambulances to access.
“We were in the office, and a blast deafened us, we ran out of the office, gunfire followed,” Farah Abdullahi, an employee at the mayor’s office, told Reuters.
Blast targeted well-guarded government building
The mayor’s office is situated in the local government headquarters building in a highly secured area of Mogadishu.
Roads in the area have multiple roadblocks and concrete barriers. The building is around one and a half kilometers away from the president’s office, Villa Somalia.
Security forces immediately imposed a lockdown in the area. Still, an exchange of gunfire between the assailants and the army was ongoing; an intelligence officer told Reuters.
“Our Mujahideen have stormed the highly secured apostate local government headquarters of Mogadishu, we first started the attack with suicide bombs, and then foot fighters entered the well-guarded building after killing the building guards,” al Shabaab’s military operations spokesperson said in the statement.
Al Shabaab group frequently carries out bombings and gun attacks on targets in Mogadishu and across Syria.
The group has been targeting Somalia’s central government since 2006 as it seeks to topple the government.
In recent months, al-Shabaab has stepped up attacks to show resilience after the government of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud launched an operation against the al-Qaeda-allied fighters last August. – Reuters
