Car bomb targets Somalia parliament complex

MOGADISHU (KON)-A suicide car bomb has killed at least four people in an attack at the entrance of the Somali parliament, witnesses have told Al Jazeera.

News Keydmedia Online
5 July 2014

A suicide car bomb has killed at least four people in an attack at the entrance of the Somali parliament, witnesses have told Al Jazeera.

The blast on Saturday killed at least two soldiers and two civilians, a source at the scene said. A fifth person was shot dead by soldiers as he drove past the attack site, the source added.

Abdi Barre, an MP who was in the parliament building who also witnessed the attack, told Al Jazeera: "It was a large explosion. A suicide car bomb. There are casualties."

No one has so far claimed to have carried out the bombing, but the armed group al-Shabab has attacked the compound before.

"Another senseless attack in Mogadishu close to Parliament. I condemn it strongly. Our will to help Somalis build peace is even stronger." Nick Kay, UN  special representative for Somalia said on Twitter.

In May, the group carried out a complex attack using suicide bombs and gunmen on the parliament, killing at least 10 people.

Al-Shabab assassinated Mohamed Mohamud Hayd, a senior MP, and wounded another politician in a drive-by shooting in the Somali capital on Thursday. Hayd was the fourth politician killed by the group this year.

The blast on Saturday killed at least two soldiers and two civilians, a source at the scene said. A fifth person was shot dead by soldiers as he drove past the attack site, the source added.

Al Jazeera