A suicide bomber rammed a car laden with explosives into the gate of a government building in the Somali capital of Mogadishu. Then armed men stormed the seat of the regional government, which houses, among other things, the office of the mayor of Mogadishu and the governor of the surrounding region of Benadir, said police officer Mohamed Dahir of the dpa. According to Dahir, the suspected terrorists shot around. No further information was initially known about the attack.
The crisis-ridden state on the Horn of Africa with around 16 million inhabitants has been rocked by terrorist attacks and other acts of violence for years, particularly by the Islamist terrorist militia al-Shabab. The government has been waging a military offensive against al-Shabab for several months. The government was able to reconquer large parts of central Somalia. At the same time, the extremists are increasing the frequency of their attacks.