Al-Shabaab militants attack government building in Somali city
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Version 0 of 1. Six Somali police officers have been killed after al-Shabaab militants detonated a car bomb outside a regional government headquarters in the Somali city of Baidoa and stormed the building. “First, a car bomb exploded at the south-west palace gate and then armed fighters went in,” Captain Ali Ahmed, a police officer, told Reuters from Baidoa. “So far, six police men died.” Ahmed said fighting was continuing inside although he said the regional president, Sharif Hassan, had escaped to Baidoa airport and was under the protection of African Union forces, who have been fighting the militants alongside Somali troops. Ahmed said four police officers died in the car bomb explosion, while another two were killed during the shooting inside the palace. The Islamist al-Shabaab group confirmed it was behind the attack in Baidoa, which is in the centre of Somalia 256km (160 miles) north-west of the capital Mogadishu. The attack is the latest in a series launched by the group, which often targets official sites and politicians in Mogadishu in its bid to topple the western-backed government and impose its strict interpretation of Islam. |