Ten people were killed in an attack in Somalia’s capital claimed by the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group, which said it was targeting military officials and militia fighters involved in an offensive against it.
The Tuesday attack began with a car bomb blast followed by a gun fight that went on for hours at a house in Mogadishu where injured pro government militias were receiving treatment.
Somalia’s information ministry said late on Tuesday that 10 civilians were killed, but did not say who was targeted. Security forces killed the four militant gunmen involved in the assault, it said.
Al Shabaab has stepped up attacks in a show of resurgence since President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s government launched an offensive against the group in August.
The fighting between the al Shabaab fighters and security forces lasted for about eight hours, according to al Shabaab, the information ministry and witnesses.
“Other militants went in and killed 10 civilians inside the house. The security forces shot dead the four militants who stormed the building,” the information ministry said in a statement late on Tuesday.
Four soldiers and three civilians were wounded before the fighting ended, it added.
