Al-Shabaab Militants Kill 15 in Somli Education Ministry
The Somali militant group al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for a deadly attack Tuesday on a government complex in the capital, Mogadishu.
The head of the ambulatory service in Mogadishu, AbdulkadirAbdirahman Aden, told VOA’s Somali service that 15 people were killed and 20 others wounded in the attack on the country’s Higher Education Ministry.
Police said a car bomb caused a huge explosion, allowing the attackers to storm the building and open fire. The Associated Press reported the gunmen took some ministry employees hostage, but Somali officials told VOA that security forces and African Union troops regained control.
As government forces retook the compound and the fighting ended, it was not immediately clear whether the gunmen had been killed in the assault or managed to escape.
The building that was attacked also houses the Petroleum and Minerals Ministry.
Earlier this month, al-Shabab staged an attack on Kenya’s Garissa University College, killing 148 people. Al-Shabab said that attack was revenge for Kenyan military action inside neighboring Somalia, where the Islamist militant group is based.
Somalia’s government has placed bounties on the heads of 11 al-Shabab leaders, including the militant group’s top leader and the alleged mastermind of the massacre in Kenya.
The bounties, announced last Thursday, include a reward of $250,000 for the capture of al-Shabab chief Ahmed Omar Abu Ubyed and amounts of between $100,000 and $150,000 for 10 other prominent militants.
