Al-Shabaab claims fatal car bomb attack near Somali parliament
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Parliament
Mogadishu, Nov. 6, 2016 (Reuters/NAN) Two Somali soldiers died and five others were injured when a car bomb claimed by Islamist group Al-Shabaab exploded near the parliament in Mogadishu, a report said on Sunday.
The police said that Al-Shabaab has stepped up its campaign of bombings and gun assaults in Mogadishu in recent months ahead of parliamentary elections which are expected to take place within weeks.
Col. Abdiqadir Hussein, a police officer, said that the explosion had occurred near the parliament building.
Another police officer, Maj. Hussein Nur, said the car bomb hit a military vehicle at a junction checkpoint.
“Two soldiers died and five others were injured,” Nur said, adding police, military and security forces were on the scene when the attack occurred.
Al-Shabaab, which once ruled much of Somalia, wants to topple the Western-backed government in Mogadishu and drive out African AMISOM peacekeepers made up of soldiers from Kenya, Djibouti, Uganda, Ethiopia and other African nations.
The group’s radio station, Andalus, said a suicide car bomb had been driven by “a mujahid” into Sayidka junction “where a convoy of the apostate government security forces were passing”.
Sheikh Abdiasis Musab, Al-Shabaab’s military operations spokesman, said that the group had killed 17 soldiers and injured more than 30 others in the attack.
The group usually gives far lower numbers of casualties on its side and much higher death tolls for the security forces.
Witnesses said security forces had sealed off the area and nearby roads were blocked following the bombing. (Reuters/NAN)
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Edited by Damilola Oyewole/Muhammad Suleiman Tola