Al-Shabaab targets airport in Somalia's Jowhar city

Somali-based terrorist group, Al-Shabaab, Thursday, targeted the Jowhar city airport with mortars, a local official confirmed and Anadolu News Agency reports.

Jowhar is the provincial capital of Middle Shabelle located 90 kilometres (55 miles) north of the capital, Mogadishu.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency over the phone, Abdi Ahmed, a local administrator in the region, confirmed the mortar attack but declined to say if there were casualties.

“The AMISOM (African Union Mission to Somalia) soldiers in the facility told me the attack caused some destruction,” he said, without giving further details.

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The Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Shabaab group claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it had targeted Burundian peacekeepers serving under the AMISOM and “white” soldiers based at the airport.

Last month, Al-Shabaab attacked a Buloburde Airport, leaving one person dead and five injured.

The group also claimed, Wednesday, that it attacked a Kenyan Defence Forces convoy near the town of Ras Kamboni, lower Juba region, killing several Kenyan soldiers.

Ras Kamboni is a small town located 747 kilometres (464 miles) south of Mogadishu.