Mayor of Mogadishu, officials injured in suicide attack on Somalia govt HQ – report

A suicide bomb attack on Mogadishu’s government headquarters injured the mayor and several other Somali officials on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

No one immediately claimed responsibility but Al-Qaeda-linked Islamist group Al Shabaab, which wants to topple the UN-backed government, is known to carry out such attacks.

“A suicide bomber walked into the meeting hall and blew up himself,” said Mohamed Abdullahi, adding that his cousin and the mayor were among the officials injured.

Somalia has been devastated by conflict since 1991 after warlords overthrew a dictator, and then began fighting each other.