At least 18 dead after 2 blasts, gunfire rock capital

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Two car bomb blasts in Somalia’s capital killed at least 18 people Friday and shattered a months-long period of calm in Mogadishu, which is often the target of attacks by the alShabaab extremist group.

The explosions came a day after Somalia’s interior minister warned of an explosivesladen vehicle somewhere in the capital.

The first blast occurred near the country’s intelligence headquarters, said police Capt. Mohamed Hussein. He said the second occurred near parliament’s headquarters, where the vehicle had tried to speed through a checkpoint before security forces engaged with the gunmen suspected of trying to attack the presidential palace.

The Aamin Ambulance service ferried 18 bodies and another 20 injured people after the blasts, director Abdirahman Abdulqadir said.

The Somalia-based al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack via its radio arm, Andalus.

Al-Shabaab, which is seeking to establish an Islamist state in Somalia, regularly launches attacks on government buildings, hotels and restaurants in the volatile nation on the Horn of Africa.

Al-Shabaab was blamed for a truck bombing in October that killed 512 people in the deadliest attack in the nation’s history. Only a few attacks since 9/11 have killed more people.

Since that attack in Mogadishu, President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed has vowed to eradicate al-Shabaab. Concerns have been high over plans to hand over the country’s security to Somalia’s own forces as a 21,000-strong African Union force begins a withdrawal that is expected to be complete in 2020.

On Thursday the head of the AU force, Francisco Madeira, said ending the pullout before 2021 “could bring about a serious risk of reversals that could derail the gains already made.”

Somali forces, he said, are not yet ready.

In recent months, the U.S. has stepped up its operations in Somalia, accelerating drone attacks on al-Shabaab and Islamic State jihadists. Just this week, the U.S. Africa Command announced two such attacks that it said killed seven “terrorists” in the Lower and Middle Juba regions.

The U.S. carried out more than 30 drone strikes last year in Somalia after President Trump approved expanded military efforts against alShabaab.