A least nine people were killed in an attack claimed by al-Shabaab on Somalia's interior ministry, and security forces killed all three attackers after a two-hour gunbattle inside, police said Saturday.
A number of people, mostly government workers, had been trapped in the ministry on what had been a normal business day. Witnesses said some staffers died or were injured while leaping from windows or walls in an effort to escape.
More than 10 people were wounded and the death toll could rise, Col. Ahmed Mohamed said.
The attack began in the morning when a suicide car bomber detonated at the gates of the interior ministry compound in Mogadishu, which is close to the presidential palace and parliament headquarters and also holds the security ministry, police Capt. Mohamed Hussein told The Associated Press.
Dozens of people eventually were rescued in the operation, Hussein said, as ambulance sirens echoed and soldiers opened fire to disperse bystanders and motorists.
Al-Shabaab extremist group often targets high-profile areas of the capital. It claimed Saturday’s attack on a militant website.
The group was blamed for the October truck bombing that killed more than 500 people in the deadliest attack in the country's history.
The United States under the Trump administration has stepped up military efforts in Somalia, including dozens of drone strikes, against al-Shabaab and a small presence of fighters linked to ISIS.
