Story highlights Four people are killed and five injured in blast in Mogadishu, Somalia

Car bomb explodes near prison where militant Al-Shabaab suspects are questioned

Mogadishu, Somalia (CNN) The Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for a car bombing that killed four people Saturday in the Somali capital.

A vehicle packed with explosives detonated near a prison run by the Somali National Intelligence and Security Agency in Mogadishu, Col. Hamza Ali, a senior police officer, told CNN. The car had been parked at the Blue Sky restaurant near Godka Jili'ow prison, a heavily protected facility where Al-Shabaab suspects are questioned.

Five people were injured in the attack, Ali said.

A statement posted on a pro-Al-Shabaab website said the car bomb had targeted a Somali intelligence officer at the restaurant.

Al-Shabaab is a Somali extremist group that seeks to turn the country into a fundamentalist Islamic state. It has carried out repeated attacks against Somalia's government and military targets. </s> At least 38 people were killed in two separate car-bomb attacks in Somalia’s Mogadishu on Friday, BBC reported. The first blasts occurred outside the presidential palace on Friday and the second at hotel nearby. Several people were injured in the blast. The attacks follow the government’s issuance of a terror warning a day earlier, Al Jazeera reported.

An exchange of fire followed the blast near the presidential palace. Security forces killed five militants, officials said.

The Al Qaeda linked group extremist group al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for both the attacks. The militant group has been targeting the country with attacks to oust the government. A gun battle followed the attack near the presidential palace in which five militants were killed, officials say.

On October 14, 2017, blasts in Mogadishu had killed at least 358 people. Al Shabaab did not claim the attacks, but are believed to be behind it. </s> Nov 7 At least one person was killed on Wednesday when a car laden with explosives detonated in the car park of the country's parliament building in the capital Mogadishu, police said.

The explosion went off while the country's new legislators were holding a session inside.

General Mohamed Abdulle told Reuters the car full of explosives was parked among those owned by Somali parliamentarians, and a Somali soldier was killed in the blast.

"It exploded and one military soldier died. There are no other casualties but there is damage to the cars," he said.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack, though Mogadishu has been frequently targeted by Islamist militant group al Shabaab, who are fighting Somali government forces and African Union soldiers across the country.

Since al Shabaab withdrew from the capital in August last year, it has increasingly turned to suicide bombers and grenade attacks to target government and African Union positions.

Two suicide bombers attacked a restaurant in the Somali capital on Saturday, killing a security guard who stopped them entering the building.

It was not clear who was behind the bombings but Al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab insurgents have conducted similar previous attacks and remain a serious security challenge even after being forced out of their strongholds. (Writing by Drazen Jorgic; Editing by James Macharia) </s> A car bomb killed at least five people and wounded 11 others Tuesday outside a security checkpoint near the presidential palace in Mogadishu, Somalia.

A regional government spokesman said the bomb blew up in front of the Somali National Theater. He said three of those killed were soldiers.

Al-Shabab Islamic militants claimed responsibility. The al-Qaida-linked group has been behind numerous terrorist attacks in Mogadishu, including bombings and shootings in hotels and restaurants where government officials gather.

Al-Shabab terrorism is one of the biggest challenges that new Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed is facing.

The militants have declared him an "apostate" and are warning Somalis not to support him.

Al-Shabab remains a danger in Somalia despite being beaten back by Somali and African Union forces. </s> At least 11 people were wounded when gunmen set off explosions and stormed government ministries in Somalia’s capital on Saturday in an attack claimed by the Al-Shabaab Islamist group, police said.

However, local media report five people, including the country’s deputy labor minister, have been killed in the extremist attack on a government building in the capital.

“There can be others inside but we have so far collected eleven people wounded in the attack,” said Abdukadir Abdirahman Adan, director of the Aamin ambulance service in the capital Mogadishu.

Police say the assault began when two explosions were set off near the ministries of public works and labour.

Gunmen entered the buildings following the blasts.

“The security forces rescued many of the staff from the buildings and they are still engaging some gunmen who managed to enter the building after the blast,” said security commander Ahmed Adan

 It remained unclear if there were any deaths in the attack.

The attack was claimed by the Al-Shabaab Islamist group, which is fighting an armed insurrection in Somalia against what it sees as heretic and foreign influence.

Attacks with combination of bombs and gunmen have become a hallmark of the insurgents.

Earlier this month, at least 20 people died in an attack in Mogadishu which saw Al-Shabaab jihadists battling security forces for nearly 24 hours.

The group also claimed responsibility for a March 7 car bombing near a restaurant in the capital that killed four people. </s> At least six people were killed and more than 12 injured after a car bomb exploded in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu on Sunday, reported Reuters. The suicide attack took place outside a local government office in the centre of the city.

Police officer Mohamed Hussein confirmed six fatalities, which included soldiers, civilians and the suicide bomber.

The bomber attempted to drive through a checkpoint but was stopped by security forces. This prompted the bomber to detonate the explosives-laden car near the building, Al Jazeera quoted Hussein as saying.

The explosion destroyed the Hawlwadag district office, a school opposite the building, and a few homes in the vicinity. Most students in the school were away from the building for a break when the blast occurred.

Islamist militant group Al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack. “We targeted the district office in which there was a meeting,” said Abdiasis Abu Musab, the group’s military operations spokesperson. “We killed 10 people so far, we shall give details later.” The group, an affiliate of the al-Qaeda, has been fighting to overthrow the United Nations-backed government in Mogadishu, which was established in 2012.

While the Al Shabaab has been driven out of many cities, it controls areas in rural pockets, according to the BBC. It has imposed a strict version of Sharia in places under its control, including amputating the hands of thieves and stoning to death women accused of adultery. </s> NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - A Somalia police spokesman said a suicide car bomb by Islamic extremists has killed at least six people in the capital Wednesday.

Capt. Mohamed Hussein said most of the casualties are soldiers and more than 13 people were injured.

Somalia's extremist rebel group, al-Shabab, has claimed the responsibility for the blast, saying it targeted vehicles carrying government officials.

The car bomb exploded at a security checkpoint near the presidential palace in Mogadishu as soldiers were conducting security checks on vehicles on the main road.

Al-Shabab frequently carries out bomb blasts in the capital near the presidential compound and at hotels frequented by government officials and foreigners.

Somalis walk near the wreckage after a suicide car bomb attack in the capital Mogadishu, Somalia Wednesday, May 22, 2019. A police spokesman said the attack killed at least six people and injured more than a dozen, while Islamic extremist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the blast, saying it targeted vehicles carrying government officials. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh) </s> MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somalia’s al Shabaab stormed a government building on Saturday, detonating a suicide car bomb in the heart of the capital Mogadishu with at least 15 people, including an assistant minister, killed during the ensuing gun battle.

In the latest bombing claimed by al Shabaab, an Islamist group which is fighting to establish its own rule in Somalia, based on a strict interpretation of sharia law, a huge explosion shook central Mogadishu and a large plume of smoke rose above a building housing Somalia’s ministries of labour and works.

Police later said the fighting at the building had ended and that the premises had been completely secured.

“The building was secured by security forces. The four militants who attacked the building were shot dead. Another militant was a suicide car bomber and so he also died,” Major Ali Abdullahi, a police officer told Reuters.

Abdullahi said ten people, including assistant labour minister Saqar Ibrahim Abdala and police personnel, had died.

Police said earlier that some 20 people had been injured in the assault, which began when a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb, allowing other militants to storm the building.

Dr. Abdikadir Abdirahman, director of Amin Ambulance Service told Reuters soon after the assault begun that people were trapped inside the building and that it was not possible to rescue them because of a heavy exchange of fire.

Al Shabaab told Reuters one of its fighters had rammed the ministry building with a car bomb allowing others to enter.

“We are inside the building and (the) fighting goes on. We shall give details later,” Abdiasis Abu Musab, Al Shabaab’s military operation spokesman said during the attack.

Al Shabaab, which is trying to topple Somalia’s western backed central government, was ejected from Mogadishu in 2011 and has since been driven from most of its other strongholds.

But it remains a threat, with its fighters frequently carrying out bombings in Somalia and neighbouring Kenya, whose troops form part of the African Union mandated peacekeeping force AMISOM that helps defend Somalia’s central government. </s> At least four people were killed on Tuesday when a car bomb exploded at a checkpoint less than a kilometre away from the presidential compound in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, police said. Security officials at the scene told media the checkpoint was rammed by a car bomb driven by a suicide attacker, causing a blast outside a theatre. “At least four people, including government soldiers and civilians, died in the blast. Several others were injured,” said Mohamed Hussein, a police officer.

“Casualty numbers may rise. There were pedestrians along the street at the time of the explosion,” he told Reuters. The theatre is about 300 metres away from the heavily fortified compound known as Villa Somalia, which also houses other government agencies. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the explosion. In the past, al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab has taken responsibility for blasts and gun attacks in the capital.

Al Shabaab has been able to carry out deadly bombings despite losing most of its territory to African Union peacekeepers supporting the Somali government. The group’s insurgency aims to drive out the peacekeepers, topple Somalia’s western-backed government and impose its strict version of Islam on the Horn of Africa state. Somalia swore in a new leader last month. Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed has promised al Shabaab’s fighters “a good life” if they surrender.

For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App now
In Mogadishu, Somalia, at least five militants set off a car bomb and raid a government building, killing at least five people. Al-Shabaab claim responsibility for the attack.