Somalia’s al-Shabab attacks military base in Mogadishu

Somali armed group al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for an attack on a military compound in Mogadishu where Somali intelligence officials train, claiming it killed “many intelligence forces”.

“We captured the building and we are fighting inside it,” Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, al-Shabab’s military operations spokesman, told Reuters news agency on Sunday.

Somali government sources told Al Jazeera that they regained control of the compound after foiling an attempt by the armed group to break into it.

They said a car bomb was destroyed before it reached the compound and four al-Shabab fighters had been killed. There were no victims among security forces, the government sources said. 

A witness said a loud blast followed by gunfire was heard early on Sunday in the centre of the capital near the headquarters of the National Intelligence and Security Agency.

#BREAKING: Car laden with explosives hit #NISA HQs in #Mogadishu. Heavy gunfire could be heard. Dozens of gov't guards feared dead-Office.

— Live From Somalia (@Tuuryare_Africa) June 21, 2015

On Saturday, al-Shabab fighters killed at least eight officers in a raid on a police station near the capital, police and the militants said.

“Al-Shabab killed eight of my colleagues and took three of our cars,” Major Abdikadir Hussein, a police officer, told Reuters from Afgoi.

Al-Shabab, which wants to topple the Western-backed government in Mogadishu, claimed responsibility for the raid on Afgoi town, 30km southwest of Mogadishu.