Al Shabaab fighters attack Somalia police HQ after twin bombings

People gather around the wreckage of a suicide car bomb that detonated at a security checkpoint in Somalia [Sadak Mohamed/Anadolu Agency]

Somalian security forces inspect after a bomb laden car attack by al-Shabab militants in front of Interior Ministry in Mogadishu, Somalia on July 07, 2018 [Sadak Mohamed / Anadolu Agency]

Bomb laden car attack by Al-Shabab militants leave the street damaged in front of Interior Ministry in Mogadishu, Somalia on 7 July 2018 [Sadak Mohamed / Anadolu Agency]

Militants from Somalia’s al Shabaab group stormed a government building housing the security and interior ministries on Saturday after twin bombings wounded at least 17 people nearby in central Mogadishu, reports Reuters.

A Reuters witness saw a heavy exchange of gunfire outside the building, which is also used by police. Smoke drifted from burning vehicles following a suicide car bombing close to the presidential palace and a second blast near the security building.

A spokesman for the militant group al Shabaab said it had carried out both bombings and said its fighters remained inside the government security building.

“We stormed the building which houses the security ministry, interior ministry and police,” Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab’s military operations spokesman, told Reuters. “We’re still inside the building.”

Police official Major Mohamed Hussein said the second explosion took place when a vehicle carrying al Shabaab fighters to storm the building after the first explosion was detonated remotely.

“Al Shabaab remotely exploded the second car after they got out of it,” he said, adding that a heavy exchange of fire continued at the occupied building.

In the moments following the blasts ambulance sirens were heard while announcements were made via loudspeaker to help clear the roads.

At least 17 people were wounded in the two bombings, said Abdikadir Abdirahman, director of the Amin Ambulance emergency service.

Al Shabaab wants to topple Somalia’s Western-backed central government, expel the African Union-mandated peace keeping force AMISOM and establish a government based on its own interpretation of Islamic law. Somalia has been gripped by violence and lawlessness since the toppling of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in the early 1990s.

Bomb laden car attack by al-Shabab militants leave the street damaged in front of Interior Ministry in Mogadishu, Somalia on July 07, 2018 [Sadak Mohamed / Anadolu Agency]

Ambulances arrive at the scene after a bomb laden car attack by al-Shabab militants in front of Interior Ministry in Mogadishu, Somalia on July 07, 2018 [Sadak Mohamed / Anadolu Agency]

Health staff carry an injured person with a stretcher after a bomb laden car attack by al-Shabab militants in front of Interior Ministry in Mogadishu, Somalia on July 07, 2018 [Sadak Mohamed / Anadolu Agency]

Health staff place an injured person in an ambulance after a bomb laden car attack by al-Shabab militants in front of Interior Ministry in Mogadishu, Somalia on July 07, 2018 [Sadak Mohamed/Anadolu Agency]

Health staff carry an injured person with a stretcher after a bomb laden car attack by al-Shabab militants in front of Interior Ministry in Mogadishu, Somalia on July 07, 2018 [Sadak Mohamed / Anadolu Agency]

An injured person is being carried to an ambulance with a stretcher after a bomb laden car attack by al-Shabab militants in front of Interior Ministry in Mogadishu, Somalia on July 07, 2018 [Sadak Mohamed / Anadolu Agency]