MOGADISHU, somalia — At least 10 people were killed and more than 11 were wounded after al-Shabaab militants targeted Somalia’s parliamentary buildings in the capital in an attack that lasted more than three hours.
The men used a car laden with explosives to break into the heavily guarded compound in Mogadishu, said lawmaker Amin Jesow. The militia then used automatic rifles and machine guns in the ensuing battle that killed security forces and civilians. Mohamed Adam, an ambulance worker, said he collected 10 bodies.
“What happened today is something we never expected. It was a scary moment,” Jesow said.
The African Union has more than 22,000 security personnel in Somalia battling al-Shabaab, the al-Qaeda-linked militant group that is fighting to topple the war-torn country’s government and impose Shariah law. While the group has been pushed out of most key towns in the southern and central parts of the Horn of Africa nation, it still organizes attacks on Somali government officials, mostly the capital.
Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the bombing, said spokesman Abdulaziz abu Musab on Radio Andulus.
The “cowardly, despicable actions are not a demonstration of the true Islamic faith,” said Somalia Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed.
