Al-Shabaab kills 13 in attack on African Union base

Two suicide bombers early this morning killed at least 13 people, including seven guards, when they detonated car bombs outside the African Union’s (AU) main peacekeeping base in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu.

Somali police chief Mohamed Shiekh Hassan confirmed in a press conference that the blasts happened near the AU base, which is close to the Mogadishu airport. The explosions shattered windows at the airport and temporarily halted flights, police confirmed.

“We were greeted by two loud blasts,” Ali Nur, who just got off a plane from Nairobi, told Reuters. “The glass of the airport building fell on us.”

Somalia’s Islamic extremist group, al-Shabaab, claimed responsibility for the attack. The first blast happened near the base, but guards shot at the explosive-filled car, said police captain Mohamed Hussein.

The second bomb exploded at a checkpoint manned by Somali security forces. Somali officials confirmed the injured guards worked with a private security firm.

“Our Mujahideen targeted Halane, which is base to the foreign forces occupying our Muslim country,” militant Abdulaziz Abu Muscab told Aljazeera. “We have killed dozens of them.”

Somalia has battled al-Shaabab’s insurgency since 2006. The extremist group has launched attacks on AU peacekeeping bases and countries that contribute to the force, including Kenya and Ethiopia. The 22,000-member force has pushed al-Shabaab out of Mogadishu, but the terror group still holds territory in other parts of the country.

Al-Shabaab’s recent attacks have included suicide bombers followed by gunmen. Earlier this month, an al-Shabaab car bomber targeted a Somali military training camp before attackers entered the base on foot and killed eight soldiers.

“Al-Shabaab is desperately seeking relevance and will do anything to keep in the news headlines,” Ambassador Francisco Madeira, the AU special representative for Somalia, said today in a statement.