Suicide attack leaves several dead in Somalia

Mogadishu: Militants launched a serious and sustained assault on Mogadishu’s main court complex on Sunday, detonating at least two blasts, taking an unknown number of hostages and exchanging extended volleys of gunfire with government security forces, witnesses said. The attack on the country’s Supreme Court complex began at around 12.30pm and running battles with police and army forces lasted at least 90 minutes.

Two bomb blasts were heard and gunmen were seen on a court building roof firing shots. A confirmed death toll wasn’t immediately available.

However, Hassan Abdullahi, a police officer, said he saw five dead bodies lying at the entrance to the court. The gunmen took hostages in the main courtroom and forced their way into other rooms in the complex, said another police officer, Abdinasir Nor. The number of hostages wasn’t immediately known. The armed men forced their way inside the complex and immediately set off an explosion, said Yousuf Abdi, who was near the court when the attack happened Sunday. A government spokesman, Mohammad Yousuf, confirmed the attack and said security forces had responded and were battling the militants.

Mogadishu’s main government centre is heavily guarded with multiple security checks. However, the security at the court complex is not nearly as strong. Most militant attacks in Mogadishu are blamed on fighters of Al Shabab, the Al Qaida-linked Islamic extremist rebel group in Somalia.