Al Shabaab attacks Somali government building, at least 9 dead

Somalia’s al Shabaab stormed a government building on Saturday, detonating a suicide car bomb in the heart of the capital Mogadishu with at least nine people, including an assistant minister, killed during an ensuing gun battle.

The large explosion shook the centre of Mogadishu and a large plume of smoke rose above the scene of the blast, a building that houses Somalia’s ministries of labour and works.

It was the latest bombing claimed by Al Shabaab, an Islamist group which is fighting to establish its own rule in Somalia, based on a strict interpretation of sharia law. “So far seven people died including an assistant minister who is also an MP,” said police officer, Major Mohamed Hussein, identifying the minister as Saqar Ibrahim Abdala, assistant labour minister.

Hussein said two of the al Shabaab fighters who entered the building after an initial suicide car bomb had been killed in a firefight and that much of the building had been secured.

“We believe there are other militants hiding themselves,” he said, adding that 20 people had been injured in the assault.

Dr. Abdikadir Abdirahman, director of Amin Ambulance Service said, some people were still trapped inside the building and that it was not possible to rescue them because of an ongoing gun battle.

Al Shabaab said one of its fighters had rammed the ministry building with a suicide car bomb, allowing others to enter.

“We are inside the building and (the) fighting goes on. We shall give details later,” said Abdiasis Abu Musab, Al Shabaab’s military operation spokesman.

Al Shabaab, which is trying to topple Somalia’s western backed central government, was ejected from Mogadishu in 2011 and has since been driven from most of its other strongholds.

But it remains a threat, with its fighters frequently carrying out bombings in Somalia and neighbouring Kenya, whose troops form part of the African Union mandated peacekeeping force AMISOM that helps defend Somalia’s central government.

Meanwhile, a gun battle between Somalia’s security forces and Islamist group Al Shabaab’s fighters in the capital Mogadishu on Saturday has ended, leaving 15 people dead, police said. ASTANA: Kazakhstan’s new President Kassym-jomart Tokayev on Saturday signed a decree to officially rename the country’s capital Astana as Nur-sultan.

The capital is being renamed after former President Nursultan Nazarbayev who suddenly resigned on Wednesday after almost 30 years in power.

As per Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Justice, the change is expected to come into effect on Monday.

Tokayev proposed Astana’s renaming on Wednesday, the same day he was appointed as the new President.

The initiative was approved that same day by the Parliament in a fast-track procedure with the approval of the country’s Constitutional Council.

The decision sparked controversy as many Kazakhs felt it should be brought to a plebiscite.