MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) – Two suicide bombers detonated explosives-laden cars on Tuesday outside the U.N. Mine Action Service offices and a Somali army checkpoint in Mogadishu, killing 13 people, including seven U.N. guards, Somali police officials said.
The two blasts took place near the African Union base, Somali police chief Gen. Mohamed Sheikh Hassan said at a press conference.
Somalia’s Islamic extremist rebels, al-Shabab, claimed responsibility for the bombings, according to the group’s Andalus radio station.
Unlike previous attacks by al-Shabab, which is linked to al-Qaida, gunmen did not accompany the suicide bomber, said police Capt. Mohamed Hussein. The first suicide car bomber tried to speed through the barrier at the U.N. office but guards shot at the car, he said. A second suicide blast targeted a checkpoint manned by Somali security forces near the African Union base in Mogadishu, said Hussein. Casualties there remain unclear.
Al-Shabab is waging an insurgency against Somalia’s weak U.N.-backed government with the goal of establishing an Islamic emirate in Somalia, ruled by a strict form of Islam.