At least five people were murdered in a bomb and gun assault in Mogadishu

 

According to the ministry of information, at least five people were murdered when members of the al-Shabab armed organization detonated a bomb before storming a government building in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu. According to the ministry, attackers from the organization surged into the block that houses Mogadishu's mayor's office about midday (09:00 GMT) and engaged in a battle with security troops.

Since President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's administration started an offensive against the al-Qaeda-linked organization in August, al-Shabab has increased its attacks in a show of defiance.

"We were at the office when a blast deafened us. We were out of time. "Then there was gunfire," Farah Abdullahi, who works in the mayor's office, told Reuters.

According to Abdikadir Abdirahman, head of Aamin Ambulance Services, sixteen persons were hurt in the incident.

The mayor's office is at the local government headquarters building, which is in a well-protected section of Mogadishu.

Al-Shabab announced in a statement that their bombs struck "then foot fighters entered the building after murdering the building guards".

The armed organization, which has been battling the government since 2006 and attempting to impose its own interpretation of Islamic law, carries out bombs and gun assaults around the nation on a regular basis.

State TV for Jubbaland, one of Somalia's semi-autonomous states, reported on Sunday that regional and Somalia federal forces had launched attacks on al-Shabab and taken control of Janay Abdale town from the armed group, indicating that the government was expanding its offensive against the group into the country's south.