Somali officials say the death toll from an attack by Al-Shabab on the headquarters of a local administration in Baidoa town has risen to 10 with more than six others were wounded.
Suspected al-Shabab fighters launched a complex attack targeting the headquarters of a local administration in south-western Somalia.
Gunmen with explosives strapped on their waists stormed the headquarters of southwestern state, a regional administration based in Baidoa.
Security sources told HOL that the assailants who started their attacks with a suicide bombing managed to infiltrate the heavily fortified headquarters of the administration, engaging with guards guarding the centre.
Al-Shabab claimed the responsibility for the attack which also targeted the United Nations compound and the nearby airport.
Ethiopian troops who are parts of the AU forces are protecting the town which is the regional capital for the administration led by the former parliament speaker of Somalia Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden.
The CNN reports on the same incident earlier as:
Gunmen Launch Deadly Attack on Government Offices in Baidoa
Islamic militants with the extremist group Al-Shabaab mounted a bloody attack Thursday on government administration offices in Baidoa, Somalia.
Initial reports to police indicate that nine people, including four attackers, were killed after gunmen in military uniforms attacked the house of the former Somali parliament speaker and current president of the newly established southwest regional administration, said Col. Mahad Abdi, a Somali police officer.
The attack began when a car bomb detonated at the gate of the state palace in Baidoa city, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) northwest of the capital, Mogadishu.
Heavy gunfire broke out between Somali troops backed by Ethiopian forces inside the house of the regional president, Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden. Explosions and gunfire were still going on over an hour after the initial assault, Abdi said.
Al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack.
A broadcast by the group’s official radio station, Andalus, said that Al-Shabaab gunmen had entered the regional president’s house and killed seven Ethiopian soldiers in the attack.
Source: CNN
