MOGADISHU: Two suicide bombers detonated explosives-laden cars on Tuesday outside the offices of the UN’s mine clearing agency and a Somali army checkpoint in Mogadishu, killing 13 people, including seven guards, Somali police officials said.
The two blasts took place near the African Union base in the area of the Mogadishu airport, Somali police chief Gen. Mohamed Sheikh Hassan said at a press conference.
Somalia’s Islamic extremist rebels, al Shabab, claimed responsibility for the bombings, according to the group’s Andalus radio station.
The first suicide car bomber tried to speed through the barrier at the UN office but guards shot at the car. The guards at the UN offices were from a private security firm, said a police official, who insisted on anonymity because he isn’t authorised to speak to the press.