A suicide car bomb killed three security
guards and injured several more people in the heart of the Somali
capital Mogadishu on Sunday, authorities said. Islamist extremists of
the Al-Shabaab movement immediately claimed responsibility for the
attack. "There was a car bomb blast targeting the district
administration offices and three people died and several others
wounded," Mogadishu administration spokesman Salah Hassan Omar told
reporters at the scene.
He
said the dead were security guards at the building's main entrance
where the blast occurred. Witnesses said the explosion destroyed the
building. "The blast was very huge, it affected several nearby buildings
including a Koranic school and a mosque," said witness Abdukadir Dahir.
"Eight people were wounded among them several students who stayed at a
nearby madrasa," he added.
The
militants' claim came in a brief statement posted on a pro-Shabaab
website. "The Mujahedeen attacked the headquarter of the apostate
administration... using a vehicle loaded with explosives, there are
casualties," it said.
Somalia suffered the worst terror attack of its history in October last year.