The Somali militants group, Al Shabab has attacked the heavily fortified Presidential Palace in the capital Mogadishu.
Heavy car bomb explosions were followed by an intense and prolong gun fire as the militants broke through the inner perimeter protecting the palace on Tuesday.
Al Shabab said last week that it would intensify its attacks in this holy month of Ramadan on the Arabic Calendar.
Shabab spokesman, Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab told reporters that 14 government soldiers had been killed in the attack and that they are ready for long showdown with troops in the palace.
“We have entered the so-called presidential palace. We have now captured some parts of the palace and fighting is still going on”, he said.
There were local reports that the President might have been injured or trapped inside the palace but the Somali Interior Ministry refuted such reports, saying the President was not inside the palace at the time of the attack.
“I can assure you the president is not hurt and as a matter of fact he was not in the palace, the situation is under control’’, the Ministry said in a statement.
It further added that five militants were killed and that President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was at a save location in the city. But failed to confirm or deny the number of troops Shabab claimed to have killed.
This was the second time this year Shabab has attacked the Presidential Palace. The Palace and other government offices were heavily damaged in February by Al Shabab attack.
Security has been tightened since then, but the militants still choose when and how to attack the area. Some political analysts say Al Shabab is gradually becoming a formidable force.
The group has targeted Kenya, and has succeeded in carrying out numerous attacks on Kenyan soil as well as fighting the African Union force protecting the fragile Somali government back home.
Al-Shabab has said that it is staging attacks in Kenya because Kenya is violating Somalia’s territorial integrity. Kenyan troops have been in Somalia fighting Al Shabab since 2011.
Some 22,000 African Union troops are helping Somalia battle Al-Shabab, which wants to seize the country and create an Islamic state.
Issaka Adams / NationalTurk Africa News
Writer’s Email Address: Adamsisska@googlemail.com
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